100 One Shots
by NatesMama
Summary: A compilation of short one shots, some longer...some part of a series...all random. Formerly titled 100 Drabbles
1. Someday

100 Drabbles~Chapter One

Someday

"What do you mean, Booth? I don't understand."

"You don't get the meaning of the word 'someday', Bones? Or you don't get the meaning when I say it to you?"

"The latter, of course."

He stepped around her desk slowly, like a jungle cat stalking its prey, permeating her senses by leaning dangerously over her shoulder and letting his breath slide hotly over her neck.

"Someday, Bones. Someday…this will not be an invasion of your personal space. It will not be me, crossing a line and triggering your flight or fight response. It will not be an excuse for you to rebuild those walls I've spent six years tearing down. It will be me…and you…naked, sweaty and unapologetic. It will be sexy and erotic and time consuming and passionate and exhausting and I will make you scream my name and it will be everything both of us has ever wanted. And then it will be soft and slow and deep and long and passionate and exhausting and I will make you whisper my name and it will still be everything both of us have ever wanted."

He stood and idly ran one finger down her spine, slowly. Her whole body tensed, waiting for the inevitable punch line.

"But it won't be now. You're not ready. But, Bones?"

"Y-yes, Booth?"

"Someday."


	2. Internal Memo

Internal Memo

Wendell Bray, Jeffersonian anthropology intern and pseudo-boyfriend to Angela Montenegro, stared at the office across the platform in complete and total shock. Although the door was closed, the blinds were not and he could clearly see his boss, Dr. Temperance Brennan, locked in a passionate kiss with her partner, FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth.

Booth was running his hands down Brennan's back, stopping only once he was cupping her round buttocks in both palms. Brennan's long, elegant fingers were sliding through his hair, kneading his neck and stroking his shoulders as they both devoured each other with abandon.

Suddenly, Dr. Jack Hodgins appeared next to Wendell, following his eye line to see the "just partners" going at it like rabbits. "Hmm."

"Hmm? That's it? Aren't you shocked?" Wendell was astounded.

"Nah." Hodgins grinned evilly. "I caught them in the basement last week."

"Wow."

"Yeah. Took them long enough." Wendell was happy for them. Booth was a great guy and he really liked Dr. Brennan. He had learned a lot from her and he knew that she was at least one of the mysterious donors who had saved his "miracle" scholarship.

"Everything happens eventually." Hodgins nodded and went back to his microscope. "You'll see. Around here, nothing surprises me anymore." And to himself, he whispered, "Not even the actions of friends and former lovers."


	3. Continuity

Continuity

"Ooomph!"

"Mmmm….Booth, watch the-ouch!"

"Dammit! Bones, are you-"

"Mmmff! Fine! Don't-oh, God…don't stop!"

"Ahhh…not damn likely…Jesus, Temperance…"

"You know that's not my bra clasp, right?"

"Front hook? I love those!"

"Stupid belt buckle…"

"Hey, you love my belt buckle…you said it was 'Boothy'"

"I love what's behind it more….what is wrong with this thing?"

"Hang on, I've got it…"

"Ahhh!"

"Ohhhh…that's nice…"

"Mmmmhmmm…..shhhhh…"

"I-what?"

"Shhh…be quiet."

"Wha?"

"Someone is at your door…hush!"

"Don't worry, I locked it. Blinds down, we're good, Bones….don't stop now!"

"Mmmkay. So nice…so…mmmmm…"

"Oh God, Bones…I love it when you do that."


	4. Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda

Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda

Watching the quiet examination going on over at the main forensic platform, Cam can't help but be amazed at the intense concentration that Brennan exhibits, the focused energy she exudes with every blink of her eye, every flick of her wrist, every wave of her slender fingers. There is a definite purpose to her movements, and it awes Cam every time she sees it. While not a slacker in the work department herself, even she can see the dedication Brennan shows is completely unmatched. Except, of course, by Brennan's partner.

And speak of the sexy devil, as the thought crossed Cam's mind, Booth strolled into the lab as if he were magically conjured. He swiped his badge and stepped onto the platform, stopping within a foot of where Brennan still stood examining her remains from limbo. Cam couldn't hear what was being said, but whatever it was Brennan was not amused.

Booth seemed to try to counter Brennan's irritation with his patented charm smile, and she ably deflected it with an eye roll and a smile of her own. Surreptitiously looking around the lab for witnesses, Booth leaned into Brennan's ear and whispered something that made the woman blush furiously. Whoa, thought Cam. What was that?

Her question was answered rather quickly as Brennan leaned up after her own quick look around and ran the tip of her tongue over Booth's earlobe, making him close his eyes and shudder. Whatever he said next must have been good, because Brennan threw a cover over her limbo case and practically ran to her office to get her things. Cam stood up and peeked out the doorway as Brennan joined Booth at the lab doors, stealing a quick kiss and leading him out.

While her head said, 'It's about time', Cam's heart constricted just a little. Shaking her head to herself, amused, she went back to her paperwork. No sense getting sad about something that was never meant to be.


	5. Outside The Fourth Wall

Something a little different…

Outside the Fourth Wall

"I can't believe Hart is dragging it out like this. All this unresolved sexual tension has to be…well, resolved, eventually, right?" Seeley Booth shook his head and glared at the television, simultaneously thrilled and irritated at yet another "shipper moment" on the latest episode of Bones. He would never admit to being a B&B shipper in public, but the woman next to him knew him better than anyone so it was useless to hide his romantic side with her.

"Oh, come on, Booth." Temperance Brennan shook her head, amused at how invested her partner was in the lives of their alter egos. "It's not like its real life. You should just relax. Remember, everything happens eventually." She grinned evilly.

Booth rolled his eyes. "And that's another thing! When I said that I know it didn't come off as cheesy, but that guy….sheesh! What a mook! And women find him attractive?"

"I have to admit, he is excellently structured." At Booth's scoffing noise, she amended her statement. "However, you are much more pleasing to the eyes. Much more symmetrical. And besides, that actor looks like he's lost muscle mass in the last few seasons. You would never let your physique falter so." She dragged hungry eyes over his t-shirt clad form, letting him know that she appreciated his body much more than any television actor.

Chuckling at her ogling, he pulled her closer to his chest. "Thanks, Bones. I knew there was a reason I loved you."

"Many reasons, actually. I am quite loveable."

"You really are."

"As are you."


	6. Inside Joke

Inside Joke

Angela offered to take the stack of paperwork and drop it off at Booth's apartment on her way out of town that Saturday. Can had Michelle with her in the lab, Brennan was in Virginia with her dad and brother and Hodgins was nowhere to be found. The fact was, she had only been to Booth's place a handful of times, and her curiosity got the better of her. She really wanted to see how the man who was in love with her best friend really lived.

Angela parked her car in the alley next to the liquor store under Booth's apartment, looking up at the windows and trying to figure out if Booth was even home. Then she saw the back of his SUV and knew he was there.

Walking up the narrow staircase, she could hear music playing. It was soft, but it had a distinctive beat that Angela knew she had heard countless times before. She snorted to herself, wondering how Booth felt about his neighbor's choice of music….until she reached his door and realized that the cheesy tune was coming from _his_ apartment.

Squelching the urge to chuckle and tip off Special Agent Sniper Hearing, she placed her ear to the door and heard the one thing she never expected. A loud, extremely off key FBI agent singing at the top of his lungs.

"At the Copa….Copacabana….the hottest spot north of Havana…at the Copa, Copacabanaaaa, music and passion were always in fashion at the Coooopa….she lost her love…."

Angela couldn't hold it in anymore, she absolutely lost it, head still pressed against the solid wood. Suddenly, she found herself lying face down on the floor, staring at a pair of feet encased in striped socks.

"Angela."

"Booth."

"What can I do for you?"

"Um…I have this paperwork from Cam. She said you needed it tonight." She handed it up, eyes still on his socks.

"Thanks. Anything else?"

"Nope. Absolutely not. I don't need a thing."

"Great. Bye Ang."

"Bye, Booth. Have a nice weekend."

"You, too."

Once she was back out in the hallway, she couldn't hold it anymore. A big grin spread over her face, and she grabbed her phone from her pocket to make a call. Suddenly, the door opened again and a hand shot out and snatched the phone from her.

"Angela."

"Booth."

"I trust this will stay between us."

"Why, whatever do you mean, Booth?"

"Ang."

"It'll cost you."

A sigh. "What?"

"A confession, G-Man."

"Confession? I am not telling anyone that I was listening to Barry Manilow. I'd rather just shoot you."

"Oh no, nothing that simple."

Another sigh. "Then what, Angela?"

"Confess you love Brennan."

"You're crazy." Booth went to slam his door, still holding her phone.

"Wait!" Angela slid her foot into the door, keeping him from closing it completely. "Please, Booth. Just tell me that…that I am not hoping in vain. That's all."

"Ang." The pain in that single syllable was achingly obvious.

"Booth. Please. She's my best friend. I only want the best for her. That means you. But if you don't-"

"I do. Here's your phone. Goodnight, Angela." With that, the door closed with a quiet snick.

Suddenly feeling sad and not quite knowing why, Angela headed back down the stairs and into the night.


	7. Something to Talk About

Something To Talk About

The smarmy looks, the raised eyebrows…Booth was really, finally sick of them all. At first, he tried to take them in stride. He was a gentleman, after all, so he never joined in the heckling. 'Sexy squint you got there, Booth', 'Yeah, I'd tap that ass.'…and they just got worse as the years progressed. As he and Bones got closer.

But today…wow. Agent Hallett had been nice enough to give Booth a heads up about another agent spreading rumors about he and Bones…rumors that would destroy the carefully tended reputations of them both. And it, of course, had to be something completely unbelievable. No one would ever buy that they had shared a quick but passionate kiss in his office the other day, but they sure as hell were willing to believe that the two of them going at it in the interrogation room was entirely plausible.

Stalking down the hallway looking for his intended target, he resisted flicking the safety on his gun and concentrated on his mission. And maybe, just maybe after all this was resolved he could concentrate on where he wanted to take Bones for their first "official" date.

But first…someone needed to have the fear of God scared into them. The thought had a feral smile spreading across his face. Sometimes, he loved his life.


	8. Wondering

Wondering

Dr. Lance Sweets settled into his office chair, still reeling from the recent joint partners' session with Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth. As per usual, they had ignored his poking and prodding in favor of giving the youthful psychologist a difficult time, but there was something underlying in the way they obfuscated this time.

Agent Booth, of course, had been as impenetrable as Fort Knox, but Dr. Brennan…she was sneaking little looks at Booth as if she was waiting for him to say something important. Generally the agent took the lead in the sessions but today she seemed even more acquiescent than usual.

In fact, the glances Brennan gave Booth bordered on…well, they resembled quite closely the looks Booth was so often giving her. For someone so schooled in the art of masking their emotions, Booth was generally an open book when it came to Temperance Brennan. His gazes of adoration were obvious to a blind man, but Sweets was content to let that slide. In the interest of self-preservation as well as discretion. And there was Brennan, right in front of him, looking at Booth with the same naked worship sliding across her face. If he didn't know any better, Sweets would have called it love.

Oh. _Oh._

Grinning like an idiot, Sweets closed the partners' file without leaving a note for today's session. Some things are better left unsaid.


	9. Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

This novel would not have been remotely possible without the assistance, support and love from the following:

My agent, Michelle Sweet. You kept me on track and kept me from doubting.

My editor, Nathaniel Ebbets. You keep me honest and inspire my creativity through threat of deadline.

The Deputy Director of The Federal Bureau of Investigation. Your assistance in the technical aspects of this work is innumerable and unmatched. I am forever in your debt for many reasons, both professional and personal.

My boss, Dr. Camille Saroyan. You allow me the autonomy to work on these projects, and still remain my dear friend.

My colleague and friend Dr. Lance Sweets. A more steadfast and honest sounding board I've yet to find.

My colleague and friend Dr. Jack Hodgins. Your expertise in flora and fauna is unmatched and your support is unwavering.

My colleague and best friend Angela Montenegro. You keep me grounded and help me to fly. What would I be without you, Ang?

My father, Max Keenan. I've never been prouder to be called your daughter. Thank you, Dad.

My brother and sister-in-law Russ and Amy. Family is everything, and you are my most important fans.

My friend and step-son Parker Booth. My step-son by marriage, my biological son in my heart.

My partner, best friend, defender, rock, champion and husband, Seeley Booth. No matter the trials and troubles, you hold my hand, my heart and my soul unwaveringly and without peer. I can think of no one who would have made a better model for Andy Lister. My hero. I love you always.


	10. The Difference

Only 90 more to go!!

The Difference

There was something about the way he looked, leaning over her, chest heaving…eyes dark and dangerous…sheen of sweat on his brow…that she found just so damn sexy it almost made her come from the sight alone. Of course, the way he whispered her name…the name _he_ gave her, not the one her parents did…that usually set her off as well.

Then, there was the curve of his perfect ass. Tight, smooth and just…perfect. There really wasn't another word for it. When she worshipped at the temple of his beautiful body, she always took her time on his well-muscled back and glutes. She reveled in his sharp intake of breath when she ran her tongue over his salty skin, or skimmed her nails along his spine, or dug her heels into his thighs, pulling him deeper into her with a relish she rarely felt in her everyday life.

When he used his body to pleasure her, when he slid inside her and held her close like she was the most precious thing in his universe, she had no choice but to respond in kind. He fit inside her as if he were made to be there, as if they were chiseled from the same piece of marble and were forever destined to slide together, intertwined in passion.

Of course, nothing beat the feeling of his mouth…his talented, sensuous mouth…softly nuzzling her most sensitive area, making her wetter than she had ever been in her entire life, bringing her to the brink of sweet madness over and over, his exceptional fingers sliding in and out of her and making her scream his name again and again.

Bottom line: there was nothing sexier than Seeley Booth when he made love.


	11. OopsI Did It Again

Oops…I Did It Again

Taking a deep breath to keep his hands from shaking, Tim Sullivan knocked tentatively on his ex-girlfriend's door. After a minute, he knocked a little harder and finally heard small steps coming to the door. When the door flew open, the breath he had been holding flew out of his lungs with a loud 'whoosh'.

Tempe stood before him wearing what could only be described as a Catholic schoolgirl uniform. Hair in pigtails, pristine white button-down blouse tied beneath her breasts, tiny blue plaid skirt that stopped just shy of _there_…white thigh-highs that led to black saddle shoes. The sexiest thing he had ever seen…hands down.

"Sully?!? What are you doing here?" Brennan was about _this close _to screaming in frustration. It was like the universe was conspiring against her again and again…if she believed in that kind of thing, anyway.

"Tempe! It's really good to see you." He tried to step forward into the apartment, but was stopped by her body, blocking the entrance. "Is something wrong?"

Brennan huffed a cynical laugh between clenched teeth. "Wrong? Oh, no. Not at all. I mean, I just think it's incredibly convenient that my ex-boyfriend shows up at my door uninvited after sailing off three years ago, without a single glance back, and expects me to welcome him with open arms." She tapped her foot on the floor and swung her hand in front of her body with a flourish. "What, did you think I dressed like this for work?"

"Oh." Sully backed off a few feet. "Jesus, Tempe. I'm sorry! I just thought-"

"Bones! What is going on out there?" Booth walked towards the doorway, clad in a dark blue wife beater and low-slung grey sweats. "What happened, baby?"

Booth stopped short when he saw who stood in the entrance. "Sully?"

Sully took another two steps back and smiled. "Hey Booth. I was just stopping by to say hi, which I did. But I think I need to go now. Nice to see both of you." He barely paused as he headed for the stairway, practically running, not wanting to think about the implications of what he had just seen.

Brennan laughed a little and shut the door. "Well, that was interesting." She turned to Booth, who had a similar amused grin on his face.

"Interesting, but also incredibly satisfying." He shrugged, playing off his innate feelings of superiority at seeing the other man jealously realize what was going on.

"You're so bad, Booth." Brennan grinned and started walking backwards towards the bedroom, one finger crooking his way.

Booth immediately moved to follow, wolfish smile on his own face. "Oh, Bones…you have no idea how bad I am."


	12. Realizations

Realizations

It occurred to her slowly, over time. No…that wasn't entirely true. The warmth of her feelings happened naturally, organically…like a child sneaking into the living room to catch a glimpse of the mythical Santa Claus. Stealthy but not undetected. But the actual realization that she was in love with him hit her like a 2x4 to the side of her head. Lying on the roof of the SUV, staring into the night sky, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye and…there it was. She just _knew._ She never wanted to look to her side and see anyone else next to her. He was the one.

She couldn't deny the safety and comfort she derived from the feeling of him grasping his hand in hers as she tried to escape the diner, unwilling to sit idly by and let the argument with Angela and all it entailed snake around in her subconscious unbidden. His assurance that everything would work itself out was startling, but not surprising. He was always trying to fix things for her with a word, a glance or an overt action she was helpless to stop.

She _depended_ on him for her whole life's happiness.

And that was the scariest thing of all.


	13. Quiet

Quiet

The ticking of the clock on the wall telling him that it was well after midnight was almost enough to distract from his thoughts. The 'what-ifs' and 'if I had said something sooners' that plagued him every single day since she stood in front of him and essentially destroyed his life with her seemingly innocent words. He knew she had been right. They belonged together. Her logic was flawless, but accepting that was an entirely different thing. It certainly didn't make the ache in his heart ease.

He'd always entertained the idea that he could have her…that it wasn't completely outside the realm of possibilities, even if every other sign pointed to the contrary. He'd held onto that tiny bit of faith in _them_ as if it were a talisman he needed to survive. But when she'd shown him her engagement ring, excitement shining on her face, love radiating from her eyes, that faith shattered and fell in a million tiny pieces at his feet.

It wasn't like he deserved her, anyway.

After she left, he sat in the same place for over an hour, imagining her in a beautiful wedding gown…walking down the aisle, holding a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers, and smiling at _him. _And it was always him. From the moment he set foot in the lab he knew their relationship was going to be trouble. But he persevered. And then when things went to hell in the end, he had no excuses and no recourse. It was, of course, his own fault. Too scared to say anything and too firmly entrenched in her life to risk more. As always.

He stood and headed for the door leading out of the visiting area, reflexively bending his injured hands in preparation for grasping the handle. The guard outside saved him from the act and opened the door for him.

"Ready to go back to your room, Dr. Addy?"

"Thanks." With a nod, he shuffled along the corridor, thoughts of the one woman he'd always wanted and her partner swirling maddeningly in his head.


	14. Eavesdropping

Eavesdropping

Booth gathered up his final reports on the last case he and his squints had solved and headed up to the top floor to drop them off at Hacker's office. The Deputy Director had requested that they be delivered in person due to the sensitive nature of the victim, a Senator's daughter. Booth was less than happy to oblige, he was in a hurry to get home because it was his weekend with Parker. The Flyers were in town and they had rink side seats, courtesy of Hodgins.

The elevator doors opened and Booth was able to see directly into Hacker's office. The door was shut, but the shades were wide open and he immediately recognized that his boss had a visitor….his partner. A cold, hard ball settled in his gut as he made his way towards the office. He didn't want to interrupt, but not out of any sense of common courtesy. He just didn't relish seeing the sparkle in Bones' eyes while Hacker flirted with her. He already had a headache, and the thought of getting in the middle of their little tete e tete was making his forehead throb. Thinking quickly, he stepped to the side of the nearest window and unabashedly tried to listen to the conversation.

"I'm telling you, Temperance, the food at Asia Nine is spectacular. I really think you would enjoy it." Hacker was obviously trying to pin Bones down on a place for their first date. Booth tried really hard not to gag.

"I know that, Andrew. Booth and I were there a few months ago for the sushi. Booth loves their Spicy Tuna Donburi." Booth winced at Brennan's words. He absolutely hated it when she talked about him with his boss.

"Booth, huh? I never really pegged him as a sushi kind of guy. Seems more like meat and potatoes to me." Booth could practically hear the smirk on his boss's face as he tried to subtly denigrate Booth and score some points with Brennan.

Brennan only laughed slightly. "Of course he likes sushi. And he also loves a good steak. Booth has wide and varied tastes."

"Yes, that's what I hear. In all things." Now Booth was starting to get a little pissed off. He knew Hacker was trying to make it sound like Booth was whoring his way around the Hoover, and he hoped that Bones missed the oblique dig. However, her next words stopped him cold.

"Andrew. Why would you make something like that up? I may be a little socially stunted, but even I am aware that you just implied that Booth sleeps around. Nothing could be further from the truth, and you know that." Brennan actually sounded quite angry. _'You tell him, Bones!'_ Booth thought to himself.

Hacker huffed a bit but didn't give up quite that easily. "Temperance. You don't spend every waking minute with the man. You can't possibly know what he's doing when he's not with you. Or who he's doing. He is a young, healthy man. You don't seriously believe that he is a monk, do you?"

"I know Booth. And he doesn't sleep around casually. You can try to make me believe whatever you wish, but I know better. And as a matter of fact, this line of inquiry has just solidified the reason I came to speak with you in the first place."

"Oh? And what was it you wanted to discuss, Temperance?" His voice got huskier, and Booth was relatively sure that if he didn't ease up he was going to vomit right in the fern outside Hacker's door.

"I simply wanted to pay you the courtesy of a face-to-face meeting when I informed you that I am not interested in pursuing any type of relationship with you outside the bounds of the completely professional." Booth couldn't help himself; he did a little happy dance right where he was crouched.

"Temperance…that is very disappointing. Could I ask why?"

"It's Dr. Brennan from now on. And yes, you can ask. But I cannot be terribly specific. Suffice it to say, I have realized that there is another man I am interested in, and until I can reasonably pursue that avenue I am inclined to refrain from dating other men. You understand." Booth's happy dance stopped immediately. Of course. There was always another guy waiting to sweep her off her feet. She was a beautiful, intelligent, engaging woman. He couldn't blame other men for seeing what he saw every day.

"That's interesting, Tem-uh, Dr. Brennan. I don't suppose I know this man?" Hacker sounded as if he already knew…which to Booth meant it was probably another agent. Damn. Right under his nose again.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, you do. This man once told me that there was someone out there for everyone, and I've recently come to realize that he is my someone. And he is very…well, he is unbelievably special. I am sorry, Director Hacker."

Booth stood rooted to the spot. Even if a freight train raced through the Hoover right at that moment, he couldn't have moved an inch. _'Me?!? She's talking about me?_' Booth couldn't have been more shocked if Bones had revealed she was really a man.

"It's really alright, Dr. Brennan. In fact, I think I'll be rooting for the both of you. Honestly. I only wish you well. You both deserve it." Booth could tell that Hacker stood, and most likely shook Brennan's hand. He only had a few seconds before she opened the door, so he ducked into the alcove next to the office and made himself invisible. Brennan opened the door, stepped out and headed for the elevators. Halfway there she stopped and seemed to sniff the air for a moment. Booth held his breath, wondering if she actually could smell his cologne in the air. She finally gave a short shake of her head, turned, and headed into the open elevator door. Booth waited until it closed behind her before sagging against the wall and taking a breath. He waited a few minutes before finally heading into his boss's office to hand him the reports. The exchange was short and sweet, and Booth practically ran for the elevators, desperate to find Brennan and finally _finally _tell her exactly how he felt about her. He wondered if any flower shops in the District were open this late and if daffodils were in season. Either way tonight was the night that he finally took the next step.

And his grandmother said that nothing good came from eavesdropping. Nonsense.


	15. The Same, Yet Not The Same

The Same, Yet Not The Same

Booth clicked the television off with a derisive snort. He shook his head, pulled himself up off the couch and headed into their bedroom, where Brennan was sitting up against the headboard, looking asleep.

"Babe?" He asked softly.

"Hmmm? Show over already?" She sleepily opened her eyes, glancing down at the baby at her breast before taking in his form, leaning against the doorframe.

"Yeah. For what that's worth." Booth moved to sit on the bed next to them, idly stroking his daughter's head as she nursed. "Another episode that makes me look like an idiot."

"Seeley, seriously. You need to quit watching that show. I've told you that they take poetic license with everything. For five years we've been dealing with it. You need to relax. Let it go."

Sighing, he laid his head back on the pillow. "I know." At her dubious look, he sat back up. "I do! I just…I don't remember it being that hard for us, that's all. It makes my head hurt."

Brennan laughed, making the youngest Booth raise her head, snort, and then resume her meal. "Sorry, love." She smiled at the baby. "I can't believe that you, Booth, of all people would think we had it any easier than they do on the show. In fact, they've toned down the angst quite a bit, don't you think? I mean, they left out quite a few of the boyfriends I had and changed the part where I did leave with Sully for a few months. They completely deleted that redheaded lawyer you started dating after your tumor, and they considerably shortened your affair with Cam. In retrospect, I almost wish things _had_ been as easy for us as it is for our TV Booth and Brennan!"

Closing his eyes, Booth silently went over everything his wife had pointed out. He knew it was really his own fault in the first place. Logically. (God, he sometimes hated that word.) He was the one who had encouraged her to write the book about the two of them and their love story, he gave his complete permission and carte blanche to the creators of the television show that was based on said book, and he promised not to complain in public or in the media when they got something wrong or made him look stupid. But sometimes…what they came up with was damn embarrassing. And the fact that no one really knew what was true and what was fabricated really pissed him off to no end.

"You're right. And it is my own fault. I know that." He sighed again. "I just…I really want to see them get together, you know? They belong together, everyone knows that."

Brennan handed the baby to her husband to burp. She rubbed his shoulder as he gently patted Faith's back and placed a kiss to her tiny head. "Listen, we both know how it all turns out, right? Everything happens eventually, right? So why don't you just sit back, enjoy the slow burn, and then you can do a little joy dance like all the other fans when they finally get Booth and Brennan together on the show."

"Happy dance, Bones. Happy dance."

*BURRRRRRP*

"That's my girl!"


	16. Always

Sorry, I was feeling...off, today. Only way to explain it, I guess.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Always

Brennan brushed a strand of hair from her face and tried to look Booth in the eye as she confessed.

"I wasn't ready then, Booth. But I am ready now. Ready to accept love and give love. It's...I feel like I have to do this now, and I couldn't do it a year ago. Please say you understand."

Booth shook his head and steadfastly refused to meet her challenge of eye contact. "I understand, Bones. I may not have to like it, I may not even survive it, but I understand."

His heart crushing confession threatened to undo her, but she knew that this was for the best. "I am happy, Booth. You always said..." She took a breath and accepted that he wasn't going to look at her directly. "You said you wanted me to be happy."

"And he makes you happy?"

"Yes." She didn't even hesitate.

"Then I'm happy for you, Bones." He turned towards the door to her apartment, more ready to leave now then he was ten minutes ago when she gave him her news.

"Booth." He turned.

"Bones." She blanched.

"Will you be at my wedding? Will you...will you be there?"

He grasped the door handle and stepped into the hall. But she could still hear his whispered answer. His one-word confession of devotion...devotion she always took for granted.

"Always."


	17. Since I've Been Loving You

Since I've Been Loving You

Booth rolled to his side and regarded the deliciously naked woman lying next to him. "We have to stop doing this."

"I know."

"I hate sneaking around…but I just can't resist you."

"I feel the same way."

He pulled himself up to a sitting position, knees bent. He rested his forearms on his knees and sighed. "This isn't who I am."

She sat up with him, sheet falling down and exposing her breasts to his hungry stare. "You think that this behavior defines who you are?"

He huffed a breath and shook his head. "No. Not really…but it worries me that, in the end, it might start to."

"You're a good man."

"Except for this…whatever it is."

"I care about you. You care about me. We have fantastic sex, just like we always knew we would. But it's just sex. No one is getting hurt."

"Only because they don't know. You belong to someone else…if he, if-"

"Don't." She grabbed his arm forcefully. "I told you. Do not say his name in this bed."

"See? This is what I mean!" Booth threw off the rest of the sheet and stood, looking over her in all his glory. "If this wasn't such a big deal to you, you wouldn't care if I said his name!"

"And I suppose it would be inappropriate for me to mention the fact that you mumble _her_ name in your sleep?"

"I love her!"

She lowered her head, willing the tears back at his pronouncement. "I know that. She makes you happy."

"She does. But apparently…"

"It's not enough?"

Booth sat back down roughly. "But that's the thing…it should be! Everything I always said I ever wanted…she's given that to me, without a second thought. Trying so damn hard just to make me happy…and this is how I repay her!"

His self-loathing after one of their trysts was getting harder and harder for her to tolerate. It wasn't as if she had enough of her own guilt to deal with, they were both with other people. And as much as she loved her husband, whenever she found herself in Booth's arms, when he was worshipping her body and whispering her name and begging her to make him feel the way only she could make him feel…she only thought of him. All other men, past and present, disappeared in a wave of desire so delirious and uncontrollable she almost always lost her breath.

"I think we should make this the last time this happens."

He whipped his head around and stared, taking in her resolute expression with a mix of terror and relief. He nodded and stood to dress. "Yeah. You're right. No more."

She shrugged off the sheet and smiled lightly. "Well…once more, anyway. For the road."

Afterwards, there were no goodbyes. No mentions of seeing each other at work, no promises of phone calls or shared take-out at the lab. Just a short, emotion-filled kiss before they both dressed and collected their belongings.

They crossed to the door together and he took her hand.

"I'd like to say that sorry about all of this. I really would. I wish-"

"I'm not sorry. Not about any of this. And you shouldn't be either."

He nodded. "I want you to know…this has been one of the most special times of my life, everything else aside. Maybe if things were different…"

"No. We are both with who we are supposed to be with. They love us, we love them. You and I…it would just never work out. And I am both happy and sad about that fact."

"Yeah." He kissed her one more time, ran a regretful hand through her long hair, and turned to leave. "I won't regret this. But I will miss it." He paused as his phone rang. The display read 'Bones'. "I need to get this, she's probably wondering why I'm not home yet."

"Go ahead. I'll see you at work on Monday. Just like always."

"Thanks, Angela."

"You're welcome, Booth."


	18. Perspective

Perspective

He leans against the rough bark of the maple tree, breeze dancing across his skin and making her hair move softly against his legs, where her head lies. Her soft sigh and even softer smile, eyes closed contentedly, move him more than any verbal expression of affection she has ever bestowed upon him.

She feels his hips shift slightly, in tandem with the breeze that crosses her skin like tiny butterfly wings. She sighs at her own poetic waxing, smiling at the perfect contentment she finds in his presence, in his arms, in his life.

She watches them, lying together against the tree in the not-too-distant distance, their obvious happiness washing over her and reminding her that this…the child in her arms, the man at her side, her friends close to her (and even closer to each other) is everything she never knew she wanted, and everything she ever needs.

He closes his eyes briefly, the slight scent of cherry blossoms on the breeze reminding him of the woman next to him, cradling their child close. He follows her gaze to their friends, close physically but miles away metaphorically, and grins. He's happy for them…happy for all of them, actually. He's never been so happy at any other moment in his life, and he thanks whoever is responsible for his perfect peace.


	19. It Had To Be You

**A/N: This is my tag for 6x22, The Hole in the Heart. If you haven't seen it…you've been warned. My opinion? They didn't do it. But this is what I think **_**might**_** have happened.**

* * *

It Had To Be You

"_Mmm…no, Booth…you're gonna be fine…Come on, Booth!"_

Booth jerked awake, instinctively reaching for the gun on his bedside table before realizing that he was pulled from his rest by the sleepy murmurs of the woman curled up next to him. He replaced his gun and turned to watch Brennan, forehead knotted in worry and grief, hands fisted so tightly her knuckles were white.

"Come on, Booth…no…you're gonna make it…." As she continued to ramble, Brennan curled up into a ball, as if she were trying to protect herself from something only she could see. "You're going to be fine…you're gonna make this…."

Like a freight train, Booth was hit with the realization that Brennan was locked tight in a dream…a nightmare, really…where she was reliving what had happened to him at the Checkerbox all those years ago. Her whispered words, at first vaguely familiar, came back to his immediate memory in a rush. He could almost see her, hovering over him in a panic, hands pressed to the bullet hole in his chest, pleading with him to stay. Sighing sadly, Booth lay back down and took her hands, gently prying the fingers apart.

"Bones…" He whispered at first, not wanting to frighten her anymore than she already was. "Bones, sweetheart. Wake up." Her brow furrowed in response, but couldn't seem to break herself out of her dream reality. "Bones. Come on, wake up. It's a dream. I'm here, I'm here." He chanted nonsense, words of devotion, words of adoration…whatever popped into his sleep-deprived and love-addled brain. Finally, her features smoothed and almost as if she had flipped a switch, her eyes opened.

"Booth?" She whispered in confusion.

He smoothed his thumb along her temple as he held her face. "Yeah, Bones. I'm here. You were having a nightmare."

Nodding, Brennan pulled away and sat up, pushing the hair from her face as she struggled to get her bearings. "Yes, I-I remember." She flicked a quick glance at Booth. "I remember bits and pieces. Not much."

"The Checkerbox?" She gave him a measured look, not surprised that he knew. "You want to talk about it?" He lay down again, turning towards her as she settled next to him, still staring at nothing.

Shaking her head, she closed her eyes. "No. It's…I haven't-" She breathed deeply for a moment. "It's been a long time since I've had that particular nightmare."

Booth nodded once in understanding. "After what happened, it's understandable."

"Yes, but…yes. I suppose it is." He watched quietly as she fisted the sheet in her hand and gathered her thoughts. "I feel guilty."

"Why?"

She turned to look at him. "Because I am glad that it wasn't you that Broadsky shot."

Shaking his head, Booth reached out and pulled her to him, tucking her head into his chest as he had earlier. "You can't help how you feel, Bones. Neither of us can."

She tilted her head slightly. "You feel guilty as well? But you said…"

"I know, I know. And I still feel that way. It wasn't my fault. I handed the phone to Vincent, yeah…but Jake took the shot. I can't control that." He inhaled sharply. "But if I had handed that phone to _you_…well that, I couldn't live with. And I am glad that I didn't have to." Her eyes clouded with tears in response. "So yeah, I feel guilty, too."

Curling back into Booth's body, Brennan nodded slightly. "It makes no sense, but…I feel better, knowing that. I'm sorry."

He wrapped his arm around her and rubbed slow circles on her back. "Don't be. It's a human response, Bones. We'll just…accept that there's nothing we can do about that, and help each other deal with it, okay? You don't have to deal with this alone. Not anymore."

Reveling in the warmth and safety his arms and closeness provided, Brennan nodded again. "No, not anymore. We don't have to be alone anymore."

Closing his eyes again, Booth settled them both back into the pillows and sighed. "We can get through this together, Bones. You'll see."

"Together…" She murmured, already slipping back into sleep.

"Together." He agreed, following her down into rest.


	20. Hold Fast To Dreams

Hold Fast To Dreams

The door to the apartment opens silently, almost as if by magic. Her heels click on the hardwood floor of the short hallway as she turns and quietly shuts the door, locking it as if by rote. She glides into the living room, tossing her overcoat over the chair in an uncharacteristic show of untidiness before turning to walk down the hall towards the bedroom.

The door to the bedroom opens silently, almost as if by magic. She steps lightly, stopping at the foot of the bed to remove her shoes, dress and jewelry. Once divested of those barriers, she climbs into bed and slides close to his sleeping form, draping her arm over his torso. He groans lightly, turning in her arms to take in her gently smiling face hovering over him.

"Do you love me?" She asks.

He can only give her honesty. "Yeah. Do you want me to prove it to you?"

Her eyebrows slide up, interested. Always interested in whatever he has to offer. "Mmmm. If you're not too sleepy."

His hand slides down her torso to her gently curved belly. "How are you both feeling tonight? Good?"

She sighs and nods. "I find myself more tired than I used to be, but strangely energized. I am glad to be home."

He smiles and leans up to capture her lips in a soft kiss. "I'm glad you're home too, Bones."


	21. To Haunt You

To Haunt You

"Agent Booth, you have a visitor. Should I show her up?" Charlie's raised eyebrows and odd vagueness instantly set off alarm bells for Booth.

"Bones is supposed to be here for our meeting with Sweets, Charlie. You shouldn't have to-"

"It's not Dr. Brennan, Booth." Charlie's eyebrows never moved. "It's your ex. The reporter."

Booth released a frustrated breath, simultaneously dreading this confrontation and looking forward to getting it over with. Hannah had been calling him on and off for weeks, and Booth had been fairly successful in ignoring her. In fact, it had become a game of sorts between him and Brennan. She would encourage him to answer, he would refuse, and eventually they would end up not speaking for a few hours or in bed working out their differences in an entirely different and naked way. Booth, quite obviously, preferred the latter.

Rolling his eyes and picking up his discarded jacket, Booth nodded to his colleague. "Yeah, alright. Show her up, Charlie. Thanks."

While he waited, Booth sent Brennan a text, giving her a heads up to the situation. When she replied, asking if he needed some privacy, it only made him grin. The fact that Brennan was secure enough in their relationship, that she trusted him enough to not be concerned that he was seeing his former girlfriend, made the last of Booth's nerves fade away…even as he watched Hannah striding towards his office, looking determined.

Effectively dismissing Charlie with a wave, Booth settled against the corner of his desk, arms crossed in front of him. "Hannah. What brings you by?"

The blonde smiled as she moved closer to Booth, faltering when she finally took in his steely gaze. "Seeley. It's been awhile, I thought…well, I thought we needed to talk." She smiled again, a little less brightly. "You look well."

"Thanks." Booth replied tersely, not returning the compliment. "What did we need to talk about? Because, quite frankly, I thought we'd said everything that needed to be said."

"I…I told you, that night…I didn't think that we were done. I believe that we still could, I don't know, work something out." Hannah sat, finally, in one of the chairs in front of Booth's desk. "I just can't understand why we would end something that was so good over something so easy to work out, that's all."

"Alright. I guess that's fair." Booth felt a little ashamed of himself. He knew for a fact that the end of their relationship was not Hannah's fault, no matter how much he had wanted to blame her at first. "But there is something that I need to put out there, before this goes any further."

"Okay…" She sat on the edge of the chair expectantly.

"I am with someone." Her wide eyes almost broke his determination. "I mean, I have a girlfriend."

"Oh." Hannah cringed, not knowing what else to say. "I don't know why I…okay."

Booth uncrossed his arms and held his hands out. "Look, there probably are some other things that need to be said." His expression softened. "And the first of those things is that I should thank you."

"Th-thank me?"

"Yeah." He moved to sit in the chair opposite her, and took her hand. "You said no, and you did the right thing. For you, for me…it was what you should have done. And I appreciate that."

Hannah shook her head. "And I came in here thinking I had made a big mistake by saying no. What was I thinking?" She laughed mirthlessly.

"No, no…this was my entire fault. I was…hasty. I shouldn't have proposed. I mean, we barely knew each other…in all the important ways that you should know someone that you plan to spend the rest of your life with. I can take responsibility for that, I was not very open with you about certain parts of my life. But then again…"

"Neither was I. Right." She nodded. "You're right. I suppose that since everything else seemed to be going so well, I didn't see…or want to see, what was not going so well."

"Neither one of us did. But please don't think that I regret anything. I don't. You were…there for me, in ways I can't even express, that got me through a hard time in my life. And you dropped everything to come to DC to be with me, and I can't tell you how much that meant. I'm not saying that was the reason I was with you, it just turned out that way."

Hannah nodded again. "I appreciate that distinction. And I am sorry that I hurt you. But…"

"I hurt you, too. I know. And I couldn't be more sorry about that. But I will never be sorry about our relationship. I enjoyed our time together, I hope you know that." Booth's eyes were radiating honesty, and Hannah couldn't help the pang of regret that she felt, again, about losing this good man.

"Okay, then." She finally smiled a true smile. "I guess the last thing I wanted to know was, are you happy, Seeley?"

Booth grinned, unable to contain the feeling of finally being at peace for the first time in a very long time. "I really am. I've realized that I deserve to be happy and I don't have to be someone I'm not in order to have that. I can have it all and not worry that it's all going to collapse around me."

"Wow. That's…I didn't know that was something you worried about. But I'm glad that you're happy." She tilted her head slightly, an idea forming that she couldn't shake. "I wouldn't happen to know this woman, would I?"

Booth nodded. "Yeah. We…it took us a long time and more than enough heartache, but Bones and I-" He was interrupted by a knock on his door. "Come in!"

Brennan pushed the door open, inquisitive look on her face. "Hey Booth, I wanted to see if you were done or if you wanted me to go wait in Sweets' office while you finished." She smiled and nodded at the other woman. "Hello, Hannah. It is nice to see you again."

Hannah pulled her shocked eyes away from Brennan's obviously pregnant belly to stutter out an answer. "Temperance…I-um, it's good to see you, too. How-are you feeling well?"

"I am, thank you. My levels of exhaustion have increased and I am no longer allowed to be out in the field with Booth, but I am very excited about the impending birth of our child and we are both healthy." She looked again to Booth. "Why don't I let you finish and I'll head upstairs?"

Hannah stood abruptly and shook her head. "Oh, no. Please, stay. I believe we've said what we needed to say, right Seeley?"

Booth followed her, getting to his feet as well. "I think so." He moved to hug her, smiling at Brennan over her shoulder as he did. "I'm really glad you stopped by, Hannah. I've never liked how we ended things."

"I'm glad I did too. Thank you for seeing me." Hannah pulled her bag over her shoulder tighter. "Temperance. I hope everything goes well with the baby. Congratulations." She looked back at Booth one more time. "To both of you." They both watched as she left the office and crossed the bullpen towards the elevators.

"Are you alright, Booth?" Brennan rubbed a hand up and down his bicep, concern marring her features. "I know you had been avoiding Hannah, so…"

"No, it was good, Bones. I'm glad she got tired of my ditching her." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her out of the room, heading towards the elevators themselves. "There were unresolved issues we needed to talk about and now…we can move on from it without being angry."

"That's a good thing, then." Brennan agreed, wrapping her arm around his waist.

Booth kissed her temple as they waited for the elevator car. "It is, Bones. It's a very good thing."


	22. Unsatisfying

A/N: This was done because of a suggestion from reviewer MickeyBoggs, who thought that chapter five of this series needed a follow-up, considering the events of the Season Six finale.

I concur, vehemently.

* * *

Unsatisfying

"Well." Brennan sat back and stared at the television. "That was…unexpected."

Booth wore a similar flabbergasted look on his face. "Um, yeah. I really didn't see that coming."

"At least Fake Booth looked happy. That's something."

"Are you trying to say that I wasn't happy when you told me you were pregnant with Joey?" Booth looked offended.

"No!" Brennan moved to sit on his lap, wrapping one arm around his neck and snuggling close. "You were _wonderful_ when we found out about Joseph. I just meant that this pregnancy came out of nowhere. We didn't even know if they had slept together after last week. And now…"

"Bang! Baby Bones." Booth smiled.

"Exactly." She brushed an affectionate hand across his face. "And I'm sorry you didn't get your morning after scene. I know how you were looking forward to that."

"Eh." Booth shrugged. "It probably wouldn't have lived up to the reality anyway." He leered at her suggestively. "That was the best wake-up call I've ever gotten, babe."

Brennan blushed slightly. "I felt inspired."

"Yay for inspiration." He leaned forward and brushed her lips with his. "Think the kids will sleep in tomorrow?"


	23. To The Name Above Every Name

To The Name Above Every Name

"That is a horrible name, Booth."

"What? I like it. It's manly."

"No, it is the moniker of a mentally deranged former Tsar of Russia. I would like to exercise one of my vetoes."

"Fine. No Ivan. What about Mary Elizabeth?"

"Too Catholic."

"Christian?"

"Too ambiguous."

"Molly?"

"Too-wait. I actually like that name very much, Booth."

"Really? Because I love it, too."

"Molly Booth. Molly Brennan-Booth. They both sound very nice."

"We do need to decide whether you want to use your name, Bones. That way, if you want to just go with Booth, we can think of a middle name. Otherwise, a middle name is…"

"Superfluous."

"Yeah."

"I think we should use both of our surnames. Besides…"

"What, Bones? Aw, don't be like that…you can tell me."

"I just…I like the way our names sound together. Brennan-Booth. Booth and Brennan. They sound almost melodious."

"That's sweet. And yeah, you're right. I like using both names. Now…"

"Yes, we need a boy's name. Something strong, that goes well with his last name."

"Something original. I know there's tradition in naming your kid after a family member, but I want ours to have a name to himself."

"Agreed. A name he can make his own."

"Benjamin?"

"Benjamin Brennan-Booth? I don't know…"

"Yeah, you're right, Bones. That's a lot of B's."

"I find that I am fond of the name Alexander."

"Hmm. Alexander Brennan-Booth. Huh."

"Well?"

"Yeah. Alexander. Alex. I really like it, Bones. Really."

"I'm so glad we found names to agree on. And Angela thought that the baby would be a week old before we came up with one."

"Well, Angela has no faith in us."

"I agree. Her prediction was almost insulting."

"Seriously. But I knew we could do it."

"As did I, Booth. And with plenty of time to spare."

"Dr. Brennan? It's time to push."

"See?"


	24. I Found A Dream That I Could Speak To

_**A/N: First of all….Happy Bones Day! Six months with no Bones makes Mama cranky…but we made it! So to celebrate, I thought I would throw a little something up here. It's not much, just a scene I can see happening to our girl Brennan…irrational though it may be. Babies do that to you.**_

_**The title is from a line in the song 'At Last' by Etta James. I thought it was fitting.**_

_**~NM**_

* * *

I Found A Dream That I Could Speak To

"He says that being in love with me isn't rational." Brennan shook her head, her focus on the remains in front of her faltering a bit. "I would venture to say that he is right, love is entirely irrational. And to love me? With my lack of social awareness and literal nature? Absurd."

She crossed the room to the lighted table laden with instruments, chose the calipers she needed and turned back to her work with a sigh. "I suppose that it's only fair that I admit loving him is just as irrational. He's impulsive, highly emotional, quick-tempered, and worst of all…he acts with his gut!" She waved a hand across her own expanded abdomen in illustration. "Absurd." She repeated.

Several minutes passed as she noted her measurements of the femurs of their victim, the silence only interrupted by the scratching of her pen on the paper and her deep sighs. Setting her pen down, she realized that she had been smiling. "And this…inspecting the bones of a twenty year-old woman and I cannot remove the stupid grin from my face. That is highly inappropriate."

She looked up, stretching her neck and back, groaning with relief. "I suppose that I am smiling because I am satisfied in our relationship. That is a fair hypothesis. He does make me happy." She smiled again. "Happy. Content in my life. Something I never expected to be, at least completely, after the last year. I'd always assumed I would be alone." She glanced at her belly again. "But Angela is correct; I will never be alone again. And…I find that thought extremely comforting. I know that he would never leave me if it is within his power and you…" She placed a gloved hand over her stomach. "You will need me as much as I need him. " Admitting the whole truth filled her chest with something she now recognized as joy. "As much as I need you."

"Talking to the baby again, Bones?" She looked up to find Booth casually leaning against the doorway, smiling.

Without embarrassment, she nodded. "Yes, I am." Another brush of her hand emphasized her point. "She is a very good listener."


	25. In Love With My Joy Delirious

_**A/N: Last night, I was introducing my five year-old son to the wonderfulness that is Cole Porter and he seemed to really like the song So In Love, and we listened to it over and over. The title here is a line from that song.**_

* * *

In Love With My Joy Delirious

She's curled into his body, back-to-chest, his arm wrapped around her and his large, warm hand resting protectively across her slightly rounded stomach. There is no movement, save the rise and fall of her chest as she breathes rhythmically in the early morning light, but he knows from experience that sometime soon he will feel an answering push from inside as he rubs soft circles from without. That thought, that milestone to look forward to, serves to ease the slight tension he can feel between his shoulder blades when lets himself worry about the future.

He's not a stupid man, despite how he sometimes feels when she goes off on one of her squinty tangents. He knows that they are so, so different…in very real, fundamental ways. He knows she is terrified of giving herself over to one person, even though she does, to him, every night. And he knows that she knows he needs that commitment from her, even though she pretends to be as clueless as she always was. And they haven't talked about it, even though they have, in their own way. She lets him know her fear whenever he has to convince her to spend another night with him, another day with no visit to limbo, just the two of them together without the cushion of their everyday lives. And she hears him loud and clear when they walk together and he insists on holding her hand, their fingers threaded together a statement to the world that yes, this is what we have become. Oh, they do talk. But not in a way that anyone outside of their relationship would ever be able to hear.

In her sleep, she sighs and turns her body slightly outward, her shoulder brushing his chin as he holds her closer in an effort to soothe whatever images are flitting across her ever-active brain. She hasn't been sick, but her symptoms have manifested themselves in strange and sometimes troubling dreams that she doesn't understand and has a hard time describing. He can tell by the tightness in her back that another nighttime adventure is underway, so he does what he can to help her. His presence seems to be the only antidote and it's not long before her breathing evens out and her body relaxes completely.

He smiles into her hair and returns to his absent caress of her abdomen, content in the knowledge that sometimes, when you love, the words are not nearly as important as the actions. And that while in another time, another place, with another woman he wouldn't have been satisfied with such limitations, this time and this place with this woman…it's never an impediment to what he's always thought he wanted and needed. It's true and comfortable and real. And it's a freedom unlike any he's never known.


	26. A Furlong's Sigh

_**A/N: This is a companion piece to Chapter 17, Since I've Been Loving You. The title is a line from the poem Discontent by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.**_

* * *

A Furlong's Sigh As If The World Were Lost

Cam stared at the apartment door in front of her, debating whether knocking was just simply a bad idea or possibly the stupidest thing she had ever contemplated doing. With a mental shake, she reminded herself that she needed to be there for her friend, and raised her fist resolutely to the polished wood.

When the door swung open, the first thing she noticed was the dullness of his eyes. All the life and color and usual delight in life were gone…as if it had simply been snuffed out. A pang of sadness echoed in her stomach as she made the mental reminder to herself that, in the end, he had brought this on himself.

"Are you going to let me in, Seeley?"

Booth sighed, nodded, and moved to the side. "Sure, come on in. I haven't gotten a lecture from you yet, you might as well join the party." He moved to the living room and sat, resignedly on the sofa like a condemned man waiting for his sentencing.

Cam stood in front of him, arms spread wide in supplication. "Well, what do you expect me to say, Seeley? She-" She took a shuddering breath. "She opened herself up to you, showed you a monumental amount of trust…trust she doesn't give out easily. But she gave it to you, willingly. And what did you do with that gift? You had an affair with her best friend. You _broke_ her, Seeley. You both did."

Booth's eyes closed and his head dropped back on the sofa. "You don't think I know all of this, Camille?"

"You didn't see her, Booth. She's…I don't know if she'll ever recover." Cam stepped over his outstretched legs and moved to sit next to him. "This is…oh God, it's such a goddamn mess, I don't know ..." She rubbed her temple absently. "And Angela…what the _fuck_ were you both thinking? What, Seeley? How could you-"

"We weren't thinking!" Booth launched himself from the couch and began pacing in front of her, hands clenched into tight, white-knuckled fists. "It just…happened. And then, we just couldn't stop…I-" He paused, hands on his hips, eyes on the ceiling above him. "If I could take it back, I would. I would."

"I believe that." Cam said, quietly. "But the fact remains that you can't take it back. What's done is done. And honestly, I don't think that this is something that can be fixed. The team…"

"I know." Booth whispered. "I ruined everything."

Cam shook her head. "You both did. Angela is just as guilty as you are, Seeley. But for some reason, Hodgins seems inclined to forgive her."

A light crossed Booth's face, something Cam thought looked as close to hope as he was going to get in this situation. "Really? They're-um, I mean…"

"Yeah, they're going to work on their marriage. He loves her, Booth. And he wants to save them, crazy as that sounds." She shook her head. "They quit the lab, of course."

"Yeah." Booth nodded. "I guess Bones didn't want Angela around, huh?"

"You think?" The harshness in her tone reminded Booth how badly he had screwed everything up. "I can't even imagine the pain that woman is in right now."

"Alright, Cam! I know I fucked everything up! You don't have to keep grinding your heel into the wound!" He threw himself back down on the sofa, all color drained from his face. Quieter, defeated, he sighed. "I know. It's…it's like a nightmare I can't seem to wake up from. All those years-" His voice broke. Swallowing thickly, he continued, staring off into space. "All that time, all the setbacks and screw-ups and other people getting in the way, we finally found our way to each other. And it was good, you know?" He looked to Cam with a wistful smile. "It was so good. We were happy. I just-"

She laid a hand on his knee, comfortingly. "You just what?"

"I wish I knew." He sighed again. "I don't even know how it happened the first time. And we swore it would never happen again…but we just…we couldn't stop." He chuffed out a harsh, mirthless laugh. "Leave it to me to find someone even more self-destructive to screw around with, huh?"

"You're only responsible for your own part in this, Seeley. Angela can own her own mistakes."

"Yeah." He smiled sadly. "You know Bones made arrangements through Jared to let me see the baby? How rock-bottom does it get? Fucking _Jared_, the Booth brother she relies on now."

"Seeley…"

"No." He stood again, picking up Cam's discarded pocketbook and tossing it to her. "You need to go, Cam. I just can't…not now…" His eyes pled with her silently, and she felt her heart break for him.

"Alright." She stood and moved to wrap her arms around him in a hug he didn't even pretend to return. He stood, unmoving, as she backed away, shaking her head. "You can't hide from this, Seeley. This is the way things are now. And it's bad, I know, but maybe…" She reached for his hand and squeezed. "Maybe after some time, you two can talk. At least try and be amicable to each other, for the baby's sake."

"Maybe." He replied without real conviction.

Cam walked to the door, stopping for a moment to take in her friend's profile. He stood, utterly defeated, eyes boring a hole in the floor, refusing to look at her directly. "Booth? If you need anything…to talk, whatever…you know where I am."

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and nodded, still staring at his feet. "Yeah. Thanks, Cam."

Nodding, Cam walked out the door. Entering the hallway, she turned before the latch engaged and watched as what little energy he'd had left drained out of him and he fell to his knees, head cradled in his hands in despair.


	27. At The Last Watch

_**A/N: This is a follow-up to chapters 17 and 26. A few of you requested this, but I'm pretty sure this isn't what you had in mind. I have someone to blame, but she won't let me advertise her name so…this is for her. And you know who you are. **_

_**The title is also the title of a poem by the brilliant **__**Rabindranath Tagore and it is one of my all-time favorites. **_

* * *

At The Last Watch

It might have been the steady, maddening drip of water onto the porcelain. It could have been the persistent, painful clench in his gut whenever his mind wandered back to think about what he had done. Then again, there was the very real possibility that it was pure, uncut, high-grade self-loathing disguised as guilt. Whatever the catalyst, he found himself sitting at the bottom of his bathtub, stark naked, with his service pistol resting comfortably between his lips and a single bead of sweat (or maybe it was water, neither were in short supply here) sliding slowly down his spine.

He had been over and over what he could have done differently…what he shouldn't have ever done at all. He had covered all the blame bases and found himself standing on every single one, and although he wasn't standing there alone, he was only responsible for his own actions…actions that inevitably had him hanging on the edge by a thread, as she stood above him, looking down on him with a mixture of hurt, disgust and resignation, digging her heel into his fingertips down the bone.

The caustic flavor of gun oil, powder and metal rolled over his tongue, and he had the absent thought that it would be the last thing he ever tasted. Something other than sweat or water rolled down his face as he realized that he had always expected her kiss to take that place of honor, and the bitter sting of blood mixed with everything else as the barrel dug into his gums. He swallowed reflexively and bent the finger that had been resting along the trigger guard, letting it sit comfortably on the trigger itself. He was in no hurry; he had nothing left to lose.

Wondering what would have finally pushed him to this inevitable place had he never met her, he swiped at his unendingly runny nose and closed his eyes for a moment. She had been his salvation and he had pissed it all away on a temporary good time, someone so much less than her. Opening his eyes again, he stared, unseeing, at the wall in front of him. Everyone thought that he was the one who saved her, but it was always the opposite that carried the true truth. Those who really knew them knew, and that realization made him believe that this would not be an unexpected conclusion. His path was clear, but the carnage he was going to leave along the way was what made him hesitate.

Their faces flitted across his mind as he readjusted the weapon to the correct angle. This pain, this final act of selfishness, would be his last. He would no longer be able to inflict his poisonous brand of destruction on those he loved; they could move on from this and start over.

He settled back against the coolness behind him, and let his finger curl around the warm metal. There was a slight click as everything moved into place, waiting. He looked up once more in supplication, and then let his eyes slip shut for the last time.

The expended shell clattered to the bottom of the tub a split second before the gun itself followed, the sudden report echoing in the small room until the only sound to be heard was the steady, maddening drip of water on porcelain.


	28. Now You Understand

**A/N: I feel like I should apologize for the last chapter, but…since no one really chewed me out for it (a fact that still surprises me) I'll just say thank you to the reviewers who "got it" and said very kind things…and also to the reviewers who didn't, but said kind things anyway. I appreciate it more than you know.**

**This chapter takes place immediately following the final scene in The Male in the Mail. The title is a line from the Maya Angelou poem**_** Phenomenal Woman.**_

* * *

Now You Understand Just Why My Head's Not Bowed

What he didn't tell Brennan after he pulled himself together, closed the lid of the box (maybe forever), and they finished their dinner was something he wasn't ever going to tell her. Because he was afraid.

Afraid that, if he told her…it would be the final straw. The one tiny, infinitesimal piece that would finally tip the scales into the realm where she really, truly saw his darkness for what it was and realized that she couldn't (wouldn't?) handle it. That she would have to walk out the door, taking their child with her, in order to save them both (and possibly him, too) from the howling, scratching demons that bubbled just below the surface of his tightly-held control.

And then that fear only made him ashamed that he didn't have enough faith in her. (In himself)

In the darkest hours before dawn, his demons came to visit (and you know those bastards never had the courtesy to knock…). In his head, in his heart, in his thrashing body…he tried desperately to contain them, only to be awakened by soft hands and whispered pleas and promises of support (I'm not going anywhere, Booth…) with a gasping breath and the one thing he was never going to tell her falling from his lips.

And with that, it was out there.

She only shook her head, and tried to take the burden from his shoulders onto hers. His guilt (now increased tenfold) at possibly giving her more than she could handle was quickly replaced by the guilt of underestimating her.

Because even after all these years, she still surprises him.

She took that guilt, that "needless and wasteful emotion" as well, and turned it into yet another thread that binds them together, another piece of an already complicated, yet beautiful tapestry. (He laughs at his own flowery internal prose) It's, sometimes (all the time), the only thing that's holding him together.

He likes to believe that it goes both ways.


	29. Sgt Shultz Had The Right Idea

**A/N: I wrote this drabble based on a prompt from the "Writing Prompts" app on my phone. I thought it was entirely apropos, so I couldn't resist. Enjoy! **

_Prompt:_ _While digging a new flowerbed, your neighbor finds a bone that looks suspiciously like a human femur._

* * *

Sgt. Shultz Had The Right Idea

Booth stood at the kitchen window, coffee cup in hand and contented smile on his face. The curtains were pulled back to give Brennan's herb garden enough light to thrive, so he had a clear view out their backyard and into the neighbor's. The company who was installing their fence would be there in a few hours, so Booth indulged his secret, inner busybody for a few more minutes, before it would no longer be possible.

He would never admit it, but part of the reason he enjoyed observing the neighbors was currently bent over, digging what looked to be tomato plants in a pair of shorts that just barely managed to cover her cheeks. Victoria Chatham spent several hours a day in her back yard, planting flowers, pruning her trees and trimming the hedges and had provided Booth (and sometimes Hodgins, if he was around) with endless entertainment. He supposed he should feel a little guilty, ogling the poor woman like he did, but he didn't really see the harm since he had yet to be caught in his (mostly) innocent observations by the woman in question….or by Brennan. Not that he was very worried about what Bones would think of his peeping tom tendencies, not at all. She would most likely point out some anthropological reason for the male of the species to be drawn to the female form and then move on with her day…but he wasn't anxious to find out what her reaction would be either way so he kept his observation subtle.

At the moment he was safe, as Brennan was upstairs getting ready for their weekend away. With the work on the house and moving in, work in general, and getting ready for the baby they had found barely any time for themselves and they were determined to spend one work-free weekend together before their daughter arrived and their free time was a distant memory. Booth had booked a secluded cabin in the woods of Northern Virginia where they could relax, cook indulgent meals together, make love and decompress. He had been looking forward to it for weeks and he was excited to get on the road.

As he finished the last sip of his coffee, he noticed a change in the demeanor of their slightly-exhibitionist neighbor. She had leaned forward, nose almost in the dirt in front of her, when suddenly she sat back with a start, something long and white clutched in her hand. Even before the woman screamed, Booth recognized what she had found and quickly dropped his mug in the sink in panic.

"Bones!" He took the stairs two at a time. "Bones, let's go. Time to get on the road!" He skid to a stop at their bedroom door, taking a moment to smile at her struggle to get her suitcase closed.

"Booth, can you-" Her question was cut off by Booth as he unceremoniously grabbed her suitcase, his bag, and began to nudge her towards to doorway.

"Chop, chop…let's go, Mama!" He slowed as they neared the stairs and waited as patiently as he could while Brennan carefully moved her unwieldy form down each step. Once they reached the landing, Booth darted past her and threw open the front door, practically jogging to the SUV to put their things in the back. He ran back to the house to collect Brennan and their cooler of food, and after another trip to the car, helped his partner down the front steps and into the vehicle.

As Booth pulled out of the driveway, Brennan turned to him, worried look crossing her features. "Booth, did you happen to hear a woman screaming? Because I could have sworn…"

"Nope, no big deal, Bones. Just the neighbor out there in her yard playing around." He sped down their road, finally relaxing as they turned onto the highway and started their journey. "She's been out there all morning. Nothing to worry about."

"Oh-kay." Brennan replied, confusion in her eyes. "Well, then, I am glad that you decided to begin our trip early, Booth. We will miss most of the Friday morning commuter traffic this way." She patted him on the knee affectionately.

"Yeah." Booth sighed, releasing a breath. "Good for me."


	30. If We Are Bold

If We Are Bold

She lay on her side, staring at the small bundle on the bed between her and her partner. His deep, even breaths told her that he was finally asleep, and she relished this first moment alone with her child. _Her child_. The words made her head spin. Intellectually, she knew that her pregnancy would result in childbirth, but the reality seemed so intangible and it was easy to disassociate herself from it…at least she could, until Booth had placed that squirming, crying, undeniably beautiful baby in her hands, and she was lost.

Booth had explained his belief in love at first sight, and while she scoffed outwardly, there was a small, quiet part of her that wished that it were real. She never denied that she had found Booth attractive when they first met, but it wasn't love…not until many years later.

But with Christine…it was instantaneous. And it was breathtaking. Brennan knew that she could never find a way to describe how she felt when those big, curious eyes turned to look from her to Booth and back again. The knowledge that this tiny bundle was the result of, not just a biological process, but of support and trust and a deep, emotional connection….of love…it stole her words.

Now, many hours later, Brennan couldn't take her eyes off of her daughter. Her small chest rising and falling (in tandem with her father's, Brennan noted) in contented sleep, her little hands fisted against her sides, the smallest hint of a pout on her perfect lips, it was the most humbling thing Brennan had ever been privileged to observe.

"You need to get some rest, Bones." Booth's sleep-roughened voice broke into her internal musings.

She smiled self-deprecatingly. "I am aware." She sighed as she brushed a hand softly over Christine's arm. "However, I find that I cannot stop looking at her."

"Yeah." He moved a little closer to the baby, his gaze directed at both baby and mother. "She's pretty gorgeous, Bones."

"She really is." Brennan looked down again, and then caught Booth's eyes in hers. "I-you know, when I was preparing to leave for Indonesia, Angela said something to me…she said that she hoped I would find what it meant to be human. And that was what I was determined to find there."

Booth nodded in understanding.

"I just didn't know at the time that I never actually had to leave to find it." A tear streaked down her cheek, accompanied by a small smile.

He leaned forward and kissed her. "But you did find it, and that's what counts. Right?"

"Right." She looked down at her child again. "That's what counts."

* * *

**A/N: The title of this chapter comes from the Maya Angelou poem A Brave and Startling Truth. It sounds very much, to me, like Temperance Brennan.**

_**We, unaccustomed to courage exiles from delight  
live coiled in shells of loneliness  
until love leaves its high holy temple  
and comes into our sight  
to liberate us into life.**_

_**If we are bold, love strikes away the chains of fear from our souls.**_

_**Love costs all we are and will ever be.**_  
_**Yet it is only love which sets us free.**_  
_**A Brave and Startling Truth.**_

_**It is possible and imperative that we discover**_  
_**A brave and startling truth.**_

_**When we come to it**_  
_**We, this people, on this wayward, floating body**_  
_**Created on this earth, of this earth**_  
_**Have the power to fashion for this earth**_  
_**A climate where every man and every woman**_  
_**Can live freely without sanctimonious piety**_  
_**And without crippling fear**_

_**When we come to it**_  
_**We must confess that we are the possible**_  
_**We are the miraculous, the true wonders of this world**_  
_**That is when, and only when**_  
_**We come to it.**_


	31. A Family Well Blessed

**A/N: This takes place sometime after the Season Seven finale. **

**Heartfelt thanks to Jaime for the expert beta and to Cindee for reading and giving her honest opinion. All mistakes are mine alone.**

**The title comes from the poem of the same name by Raymond A. Foss.**

* * *

A Family Well-Blessed

His partner's brother looked years older than his actual age, the lines around his eyes and mouth seemingly deeper and more pronounced overnight. He could only imagine what Brennan's sister-in-law looked like. With a resigned sigh, he stepped forward and pulled the screen door to the house open, the creak announcing his presence like a desperate scream in the middle of an empty church.

Russ noticed him looking around and moved to shake his hand, his nod slow and sluggish. "Booth. Thanks for coming." He looked around for a moment, before continuing quietly. "Have you heard from Tempe?"

Booth shook his head. "No. Not yet. But this hit the papers this morning, so she'll hear about it soon, if Max hasn't already told her."

"I hope to God she stays away." Russ muttered, drawing a shocked expression from Booth. "Yeah, I know. But really, Booth…after everything you and Dad told me, it's better that she's off the grid. I know she would want to be here, but…look, Hailey loved Tempe and she knew Tempe loved her back. And Amy understands, we all do." He chuffed a bitter laugh. "How can we not, in this family?"

"I just wish things were different, Russ. I'm so sorry." He looked the other man in the eye and held contact. "I failed her, and I'm still failing her."

"Maybe." Russ smiled slightly at Booth's frown. "We all failed her a little, Booth. At one time or another, anyway. And sometimes, that happens. Even good people with the best of intentions fail sometimes." He shook his head. "If you think about it, we're all kind of paying for it now, huh?"

"Tell me about it." Booth ran a hand across his face and sighed. "It just…"

"One big fucking mess?"

With a wry grin, Booth agreed. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

"They'll be home soon, Booth. Your team will find a way to bring her back." Booth wished he felt as confident as Russ sounded.

"I know." Booth wanted to say something more, talk to someone else who loved Bones and Christine about how much he missed his family, how badly he ached to hold them. But talking about a daughter he would be able to see again someday seemed insensitive, considering that Russ would never again be able to hold his own daughter. "That's the thought that keeps me going."

"Tempe has faith in you. That's the only reason she left."

"I know." Booth was beginning to feel like a broken record. He looked around at what were clearly Amy's family, all sitting quietly talking, or stealing glances at Booth and Russ. He knew they were aware of who he was, but he imagined the novelty would wear off soon enough, considering the circumstances that had brought him there. Wanting to change the subject, Booth patted Russ on the back and led him further into the house. "Is there anything I can do for you guys? Any errands? Anyone you need to call?"

Russ shook his head sadly. "No, thanks. I took care of the phone calls. And people have been dropping all kinds of food off all day." He sighed. "Amy's mom is going to stay with Emma while we go to-" His voice stuttered slightly and Booth's heart clenched painfully for the other man. "To the funeral home. So I think we've got everything covered for now."

"You let me know, though. If there's, you know, anything. At all." Booth's determined offer made Russ want to irrationally pull his pseudo brother-in-law into an embrace. It was obvious that he was hurting with Tempe and Christine gone, and not knowing where they were had to make it a million times worse. Booth was clearly looking for something…anything…to give him some purpose to fill the void.

Russ nodded to himself and slapped Booth on the shoulder. "You know something? I actually could use some help shuttling people from the airport. You up for that?"

"Sure, sure…" Booth released a breath he didn't even realize he was holding and followed Russ into the kitchen, just glad to be doing something to help. He couldn't do anything to fix things for his own family, but he could be there for Brennan's when they needed him the most. For now, it would have to be enough. "Just tell me when and where."


	32. A First Confession

**A/N: I admit, I've been avoiding post-finale fic writing. A little because I've seen it done spectacularly well already and a lot because there has been a flood of them lately. I didn't want to get caught up in all the speculation, I just wanted to wait for the Season 8 premiere without all that guessing gumming up the works. **

**Ah, the best laid plans of mice and fan fic writers. **

**So, this is part one in my little series of vignettes about the events following The Past in the Present. They will run in order, but will not cover the entire time I believe Brennan and Christine will be on the run. You'll see what I mean here shortly. **

**Special thanks to some1tookmyname for the beta read. **

**The title of this tidbit is from the William Butler Yeats poem of the same name.**

* * *

A First Confession

"How unthrilled would Booth be right now, knowing you and his daughter are hanging out with me in the middle of the Atlantic?"

Brennan shook her head ruefully. Admittedly, when she had suggested this course of action to her father, she'd half expected him to scoff and dismiss it out of hand. That he'd taken the idea and ran with it so spectacularly spoke to the amount of trouble they currently found themselves in.

"I imagine he would be nothing but grateful, Sully." At her former lover's look, she shook her head. "Honestly. Booth has no reason to doubt my loyalty, and I know that he once considered you a friend." Brennan sighed, glancing at Christine, who slept peacefully in her travel crib a few feet away. "He would appreciate that you've taken us in, no questions asked. It's more than even I expected."

Sully stood and moved to the small galley fridge and pulled two bottles of water out of its depths. He crossed back to the table and handed Brennan one bottle, popping the lid on the other and taking a long drink as he sat. "Tempe, we meant something important to each other a long time ago. I like to think we parted amicably." At her slight nod, he continued. "And Booth…he's a good guy. And I know he would do the same for me, so…here we are. I'm just glad I could help."

Brennan sipped her water thoughtfully. "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure Booth would harbor you if you were a fugitive."

The former agent barked out a laugh, leaning back contentedly. "Same ol Tempe. Never pulling any punches."

"I've never seen the need to prevaricate. Booth is a very honest man, and especially as a member of law enforcement, he would find it difficult to go against the law, even to help a friend."

A sickening thought slid into Sully's head and rocked him back on his heels. "Tempe…you-did you leave without telling Booth?" The grimace that crossed her face verified his worry. "You left, with his daughter, and you didn't tell him first? Oh, Temperance…"

Brennan stood suddenly and tried to pace in the tiny cabin. "I had to leave without telling him! He-Booth had to be able to say that he didn't know we were leaving and he had to be able to tell the truth! They-" She stopped in front of where her daughter slept, blissfully unaware, trying unsuccessfully to stem the tears that threatened. "They want to put me in jail. Away from Christine. Completely vulnerable in a system under the control of Christopher Pelant. Away from-"

"Booth."

"Yes, away from B-Booth." She stuttered.

"No, Tempe." He nodded, gesturing behind her. "Booth."

Brennan wheeled around, shock, elation and something Booth could only describe as terror washing over her features. "Booth!"

"Hey Bones." He nodded at her once, soft smile on his face. He stared back at her for a moment, eyes accepting and full of nothing but love and devotion. Booth gave her a few beats to recover from his sudden appearance before he opened his arms dramatically, fingers gesturing her towards him. "What, no hug?"

He barely stayed on his feet as she launched herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.


	33. A Meditation in Time of War

**A/N: This is the second part of my post-finale series. This begins immediately after the end of Chapter 32: A First Confession. **

**Thanks to DharmaMonkey for the excellent beta and to Rynogeny for the awesome read through.**

**~The chapter title is from the William Butler Yeats poem of the same name.**

* * *

A Meditation in Time of War

Sully excused himself to the top deck with a pointed look to Brennan and a quiet clap of Booth's shoulder. The partners stood together, arms still wrapped around each other, for what seemed like hours, their breaths synching up in shared relief and desperate familiarity.

Brennan's voice was husky and muffled, her face buried in Booth's chest. "How did you find us?"

His immediate chuckle warmed the cold, icy pain that had been living in her gut since the moment she had slipped her father's car into drive and pulled away from the church where their daughter had just been christened. She choked back a sob of relief as Booth pulled back to look into her eyes.

"Your dad. He took care of it."

Brennan was, for lack of a better word, shocked. "My father? But…he was so insistent that we couldn't…"

Nodding, Booth pulled away slightly, leading Brennan to her chair and crouching down to look at the still-sleeping Christine. "Hi, baby girl." He whispered. "I missed your sweet face." He brushed a finger along the baby's downy cheek, causing a slight, delicate twitch, and then stood. He sat in Sully's now-abandoned seat and rubbed a hand across his face, a face Brennan now noticed was more lined than it had been a month ago, accompanied by dark circles under his eyes and a pallor that brought her guilt screaming to the fore. "Your dad knew I was still off the case and on suspension. At this point, no one is watching me. The FBI knows I didn't know you were leaving, and—"

"Booth…about that…I never wanted to—"

"Bones." The single syllable, spoken softly yet surrounded with conviction and somehow, irrationally, a heart-warming comfort, told her everything she needed to hear, but he continued. "I've never blamed you. Was I angry? Yeah." She looked down at the table top, unable to meet his gaze. "But…hey. Bones, look at me." When she finally brought her eyes back up, he smiled. "Just because I was furious doesn't mean I didn't understand. I did. I still do. I was over it in about twenty minutes."

"Really?" Her voice was small and tentative and it annoyed her even as she worried that he was simply trying to placate her.

"Yes, really." His eyes were open, honest and warm. Just like she remembered them. She released the breath she didn't know she was holding and smiled. "I'm just glad I was able to find you both."

Brennan shook her head at that. "How did you find us? You said that my dad—"

"GPS." He pointed to Christine's car seat, sitting off to the side, empty. "Max lo-jacked her car seat. Just in case you got separated, he could find you."

"And he gave you the receiver?"

"Yep. He showed up this morning, at the house, with the tracker."

The implications of Max's actions were obvious. As of right now, Booth was aiding and abetting a fugitive from justice, a fact he didn't seem very upset about. "I can't believe my father would insist we leave without you knowing, and then turn around and tell you how to find us anyway. It makes no sense." Her frustration was slowly overriding any relief she had found in Booth's sudden appearance. If there was one thing Temperance Brennan did not like, it was not understanding something.

Booth's grin only served to irritate Brennan more. "You really can't figure it out?" he asked, a teasing edge to his voice. "And here I thought you were a genius."

"Booth…" She sighed. "I have missed you greatly, but at this moment I find myself—"

"Bones, it's almost over."

"I wish you would just—" Her head snapped up as his last three words penetrated her consciousness. "I—what?"

Booth scooted forward in his chair, leaned in close and grasped her hand, weaving their fingers together. "Angela cracked Sawyer's code."

Brennan's eyebrows knit together. "Code? What code?"

With a small smile, Booth explained how her own insight into Ethan's scrawled note in the book he had given her had led Hodgins and Cam to find the three-sided message imprinted on her former colleague's hospital room wall, giving Angela a jumping-off point to connect her library book code theory to Christopher Pelant. After several weeks of frustration, the artist had finally cracked the code only three days before, finding that her original hypothesis, that Pelant had been uploading computer code to the library's computers was correct. But only marginally so.

"What does that mean, Booth? Did she find his other codes in the system?" Brennan's head was spinning with the reality that she might actually be able to sleep in her own bed very, very soon.

"No." Booth shook his head ruefully. "Not _codes_, plural. Just one." His smile turned into a full-blown grin. "The only code she really needed to find, it turns out."

"The code to disable his ankle monitor…" She breathed in disbelief. "This whole time…"

Booth slipped off his chair to kneel in front of her, hands on her thighs tightening. "Yep. This whole time, he was leaving his house after having uploaded a code that disrupted the monitoring company's system. He managed to make it look like he was staying put, when in fact he was roaming around, free and easy."

"But…how would he control how the code was used, and when? It sounds like it should be hard to predict when the code would be uploaded…"

"It was," Booth replied, an irrational surge of excitement rising up inside him at seeing her brilliant mind trying to puzzle out how Pelant had worked his particular brand of black magic. "But after checking his phone records again, Angela discovered that he actually called the monitoring company hours before each murder, and other times as well. The company logged the calls as complaints about his fear that the monitor wasn't working and how he was so worried that someone would think he had left the area."

Brennan nodded, almost excitedly. "Yes, and in that case…they would send an electronic signal to his monitor to test it, and…"

"The ping would disable it without alerting the company."

"Brilliant." She shook her head, frowning. "Did Angela test the theory?"

"She's getting the monitor this morning; the FBI had it stored away in a secure location once he was freed, because even though he was free, he was still a person of interest in the other two murders. She's bringing in Flynn, Hacker, anyone else who can attest to the evidence objectively, and they're going to test the monitor live and then contact me as soon as it's official."

Brennan tried to hide her disappointment. "So they haven't tested it yet?"

"Hey…" He stood and pulled her to her feet, enveloping her in his strong arms. "Hey, don't think like that. This is Angela we're talking about. She's brilliant, too. And she wouldn't have even told me what was going on unless she was completely convinced this was the key. Right?"

He glanced down at where her face was buried in his chest. The slight nod she gave was good enough for him, and he reached down and pulled her chin until she was looking back up into his eyes.

"You know, it occurs to me that you forgot to do something pretty important earlier when I first got here." His eyes twinkled in muted amusement.

She responded involuntarily to his ease and smiled back at him. "Oh, did I?" She slid a hand along his chest and shoulder, reaching up to cup the back of his neck tenderly. "And what would that be, Agent Booth? Because I assure you, I rarely forget anything."

Acutely aware of how much he had missed this playful side to her, Booth chuckled. "Oh, but you have, Dr. Brennan…" He nudged her nose with his, taking a moment to inhale her sweet scent. "Can you guess what it might be?"

"I don't guess," she whispered before taking his lips in a deep, wet kiss that spoke of hope and belonging and love and devotion and home. She stopped for a moment to take a breath, eyes sweeping over his still-parted lips and glazed expression before leaning back in and taking his bottom lip between hers and sucking lightly. She released him with a soft pop before smiling gently and looking up at him through her lashes. "So, was I correct?"

Booth recovered enough to kiss her quickly and sweetly before resting his forehead against hers with a sigh. "Bones, you've never been more right in your entire life."


	34. Smug

**A/N: A very short drabble with a little B&B sexy times. Originally posted for my friend Rynogeny's 50th birthday.**

* * *

Smug

Booth leaned his head on one hand as he settled onto the bed, resting on his side as he watched Brennan lay back and try to catch her breath. He tried, unsuccessfully, to remove the cocky smirk from his face before she caught him, but he just couldn't help himself.

Brennan's head rolled, languidly satisfied, locking eyes with her partner resting next to her. At his grin, she shook her head. "Booth, don't look so proud of yourself. You have done that before."

"Yeah, but…" He slid his unoccupied hand across the sheets and palmed her left breast, thumbing the nipple that was still stiff from the after-effects of her orgasm. "You have to admit, Bones…that was some of my best work. I. Am. Awesome."

Her hummed agreement and soft smile were enough of an agreement for Booth as he rolled over her, hovering for a moment before parting her still-quivering thighs with his own and lining himself up against her damp flesh. As he inched forward, her hum turned to a moan as she welcomed him inside her body, the feel of her tight, hot passage forcing the breath from his lungs.

Brennan gave Booth her own version of a cocky smirk as she locked her legs around his hips and flipped them over, letting her body fall naturally against his and taking him in all the way with a gasp.

As she began to move over him, her breasts swaying to a rhythm that had him mesmerized, Brennan leaned down and whispered hotly in his ear.

"Who's awesome now, Booth?"

His entire body tensed as she lifted herself off his body slowly, shifted her hips and dropped back down. "Ohhh….you, Bones. You are….definitely….Oh God, baby…so, so awesome."


	35. The Release in the Conversation

**A/N: Another short drabble, a little more sexy times in this one. And yet another fic for the fabulous Rynogeny's birthday.**

* * *

The Release in the Conversation by NatesMama

"Are you going to be gone much longer?" Brennan lay back against the pillows behind her and sighed. Booth had been attending a conference in Dallas for over a week and the strain of missing him was beginning to wear on both her and Christine.

Booth, for his part, physically ached to be home. Since their separation during the Pelant mess, he hated being apart from either of his girls for longer than a normal workday. He had tried everything, up to and including cash bribes to Hacker, to get out of this conference on FBI sharpshooter training, but being in the top five in every marksmanship category the Bureau kept track of wiped out any other argument he made. He returned Brennan's sigh and, unbeknownst to him, mimicked her position against his pillows. "Just another two days, Bones. Another day of training course classes and the banquet tomorrow night. Then I'll be home on Thursday afternoon."

"Do you require a ride home from the airport?" Brennan asked, settling deeper into the bed. She would never admit it aloud, but her favorite part of the night since he had been gone was Booth's soft, tired voice in her ear as he regaled her with his day's activities. Her preference would be to have him there physically, but since that was not possible she more than made the most of a less-than-ideal situation.

"Nah." Booth sighed, settling further back into his pillows. "I can take a cab. There's no need for you to leave work when I can just go right home. I can send your dad home early and Christine and I can make you dinner."

Brennan smiled to herself. "Booth, Christine is much too young to be assisting you-"

Her immediate and expected anthropological correction didn't catch him by surprise, but the rush of blood to his groin at her oh-so-Dr. Brennan tone of voice certainly did, and he didn't want to waste it.

"Bones."

Her innocent tone almost made him laugh. "Yes, Booth?"

"What are you wearing?"

His non sequitur surprised her into silence. She looked down at her sleep top and shorts and shrugged her shoulder. "Um…what I always wear. Unless we are going to engage in intercourse, in which case I am usually naked." His now-heavier breathing immediately caught her attention. "Booth…are you…aroused?"

With a sexy chuckle, Booth adjusted himself in his boxers. "Yeah, Bones. You could say that I am _aroused_."

"But…why? We were not discussing anything particularly sex-related-"

He continued speaking as if she hadn't said a word. "You know what I really love about going down on you, Bones?" Her shocked gasp only served to spur him on, his raging erection leading the way. "Your skin. Seriously. Sure, I love the way you taste and smell and the sounds you make…all kittenish and so damn sexy, but the thing that really gets me hard enough to pound steel? When I'm between your legs and the inside of your thigh brushes against my neck, just a whisper of a touch…oh, baby…your skin is so soft and it's like silk rubbing against me. It's one of the hottest things about you."

"Oh, Booth…" Brennan breathed. Her hand smoothed down her body of its own volition and her questing fingers brushed the very body part he was now extolling the virtues of in that breathy tone. "I love that, too." She swallowed at his groan, determined to continue even as her voice became shaky with want. "Especially when you haven't shaved before, and your whiskers scrape across my smooth skin…the contrast is incredible."

Booth gave up any pretense and yanked his boxers off, sending them flying. He gripped his cock with one hand, the other turning the phone to speaker and laying it next his head on the pillow. "We really doing this, Bones?"

Brennan pulled her own shorts off and ghosted a finger along her damp folds. "Oh God, yes." She shuddered as she let one finger rim her entrance softly and slowly. "Keep talking to me, Booth…please."

"Oh yeah…" He hissed between his teeth at a particularly tight slide of his fist against the head of his dick. "You know how much I love your breasts, right?"

"Yesss…" Brennan breathed in response. "You sometimes spend an inordinate amount of time on them."

"Mmmhmm. Because they're fucking gorgeous, Bones." He smiled predatorily at her quick inhale. He had discovered, quite by accident, that his oh-so-proper partner loved dirty talk in the bedroom. The second time they'd made love she had flipped them over and began riding him, dragging a particularly filthy curse word from him. He was going to apologize until he realized that the expletive had made her eyes change to a bright blue and her hips move even faster as she rode him with gusto. Ever since, Booth had made a point to throw in choice naughty words at just the right moment to get her motor running. "And you know what else I love? Your squinty talk. And not just the regular, everyday sciency words…the squinty sex talk, too." He inhaled sharply at a particularly tight slide of his fist against his cock. "Yeah, I might complain sometimes but when you say 'intercourse' instead of 'fuck'…or 'vaginal walls' instead of 'tight pussy', it makes me fucking crazy…."

Brennan laughed throatily. "I know, Booth." She exhaled deeply as she swiped her own finger against her throbbing clit, already feeling the tell-tale signs of her impending orgasm spurred on by Booth's panting and his soft curses in her ear.

"Tease." Booth gasped, his chuckle cut off by a sexy groan as he began to reach the end of his restraint. "Bones…oh, God, baby…I'm…"

"Me, too….yes, Booth….yes….yesyesyes…" She hissed through her clenched teeth, the orgasm washing over her sharply and making her practically sit straight up in bed. She slammed her thighs together around her hand; the last throbbing waves washing over her as she listened to Booth come on the other end of the line.

After a few moments, Booth's amused laugh cut through her sated reverie. "Damn, Bones. I don't know what it is…six years I held back, now I can't seem to keep my mind out of the gutter where you're concerned." He sighed contentedly, letting Brennan know that he wasn't at all upset by his lack of restraint.

"Angela says it's like opening floodgates. The water is everywhere and impossible to contain." Brennan sniffed, almost haughty. "I despise metaphor but it seems apt for our situation."

"Yeah." Booth chuffed out a laugh. "Flood gates. That works."

Brennan smiled and rolled to her side, cradling the phone against her face. "So I'll see you on Thursday?"

Booth sat up and grabbed his phone, taking it off speaker and unconsciously returning her bright grin. "Count on it, Bones."


	36. The Heart of the Woman

**A/N: This is a continuation from chapters 32 and 33.**

* * *

The Heart of the Woman

Not long after Booth and Brennan began their impromptu reunion, a cooing began emanating from the floor behind them and Booth turned excitedly. "Hey there, baby girl!" He leaned down to rescue Christine from her travel crib, a knot releasing from his chest at her excited reaction to him. He pulled her close, kissing her sweet-smelling hair. "I missed you so much."

Brennan watched with tear-filled eyes as father and daughter got reacquainted, her own anxiety easing much as Booth's had done. While she had tried to show her daughter pictures of her father while they were on the run, Brennan could only do so much to ensure that Christine didn't forget Booth entirely. The fact that it seemed the baby had not only retained her memories, but her feelings of adoration as well, forced a sob from her throat when Booth laughed as Christine grabbed his nose and squeezed in delight.

Booth noticed Brennan's expression and smiled softly. "Bones, it's okay. Really."

She nodded tightly as the sound of Sully coming back down the steps reached her ears. When her former lover came up behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder, she flinched lightly, causing Booth to grin and Sully to laugh.

"Relax, Tempe. I was only coming to let you guys know that someone is here to take Booth's ride back to the marina."

"Oh!" Brennan fought a blush as realization struck her. She turned back to Booth. "I never even thought about how you caught up to us. You rented a boat?"

Booth shook his head and handed a babbling Christine back to her mother. "No, I didn't have to. A guy was there at the dock waiting for me. He gave me the boat and the coordinates, and said someone would be along to get the boat back when I reached my destination."

"My dad set it up?"

"Yeah, I figured Max had everything planned out before he even came to the house." Booth stood and held his hand out to Sully. "And thanks, man." He nodded towards his girls. "Thanks for taking care of my family."

Sully ducked his head slightly in embarrassment. "Booth, you would have done the same for me. I know that." Booth's nod made him smile. "And I had seen those asinine news reports, I knew Tempe wouldn't kill anyone and I sure as hell knew she wouldn't become a fugitive without a damn good reason, so I was happy to help when Max contacted me."

"Max?" Booth shook his head, laughing. "That old con knows how to get his hands on anyone."

"It was my idea, Booth."

He turned to his partner, surprised to see her looking almost nervous. "Yeah? Well, it was a smart move, Bones. No one would have known you were out here." He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "I'm glad you're a genius."

Relief flooded Brennan's features, making Sully chuckle. "Tempe. Booth knows you, you shouldn't have been so worried."

"But we were lovers, and with how I left…." Brennan pressed her lips together forcefully, willing herself not to say another word.

The men exchanged a look that had Sully reaching for the baby. "Hey, Tempe. Why don't you let me take this gorgeous kid up on deck and show her the water?" At her hesitation, he paused. "Temperance, I have nieces and nephews. I'll be fine." He leaned down and smiled at Christine, who returned his grin and reached for him. "See? She likes me."

"Bones, they'll be fine." Booth took his daughter from her mother's arms and kissed her nose before handing her to his old friend. "We need to talk before we hear from Angela, okay?"

Sully turned and headed for the steps. "Say bye to Mommy and Daddy, tell Mommy not to worry."

Christine waved one chubby little fist, managing to look enough like a tiny, vengeful dictator that even Brennan huffed a laugh. "Thanks, Sully." She nodded, waving back at Christine as she disappeared up the stairs.

Turning back to Booth, a wave of love and longing so strong swept over Brennan and she launched herself back into his arms, relieved when he wrapped them around her tightly. "I know we have to talk, Booth…but can we just…"

"Bones, we can stand here for however long you need." He inhaled the scent of her hair and another band released itself from around his heart at the familiarity and comfort it brought. "Forever. I'm never letting you go again."

"Thank you, Booth…thank you." Brennan breathed, standing closer to let Booth sway them back and forth in a rhythm that had both partners lost in the feeling of finally being reunited.

They would have stood there forever, were they not interrupted by the ringing of Booth's phone.


	37. Did You Lock The Door?

**A/N: Just a little something. **

* * *

Did You Lock The Door?

"Mmmm….Bones, don't move."

"Booth, this particular position requires that I move…quite a lot, actually…"

"Oh God, Bones…seriously. Right…there. There, baby. Keep going….I'm almost…"

"Mommy?"

"Oh, damn!" Booth scrambled up, hitting his shoulder on the headboard. "Christine!"

Brennan turned around, untangled herself from her position on her knees, and calmly regarded her daughter. "Christine, haven't I explained to you the rules and reasons you need to knock on mine and your father's bedroom door at night?"

"Yes, Mommy."

"And why did you feel as though you needed to break that particular rule? Is there an emergency?"

"No, Mommy."

"Then what is the problem, Christine?"

"I wanted a glass of water."

Booth exhaled loudly and rubbed his face with his hand. "Chrissy, you can get your own water. You know that."

"I know, Daddy. But…" She looked from her mother to her father for a moment. "I heard a weird noise."

By this time, Brennan had managed to grab her robe from the end of the bed and make herself more presentable. "Christine, what you heard was your father and I being intimate."

"Bones…" Booth groaned, resisting the urge to bury his head under the covers.

"Booth, I won't lie to her." She patted the edge of the bed, indicating that her daughter sit beside her. Once the little girl was settled, Brennan wrapped an arm around her. "Sweetheart, when two people love each other, like your father and I, they express that love in a physical manner. And when they do, sometimes they can be quite vocal. That is the noise you heard when you were getting your water."

"Oh. Okay, Mommy. I'm sorry I didn't knock." Seemingly pacified, Christine jumped off the bed and walked to the door. "Goodnight Daddy, Goodnight, Mommy. Have fun being intimate!"

As she closed the door behind her, Brennan couldn't hold her laughter anymore. "Oh, that was amusing. The look on your face…." She fell back on the bed, shaking with mirth. "Oh, Booth…that was so funny!"

Booth yanked back the covers and stood, glaring at his partner as she tried to control her amusement. "No, Bones. It's not the least bit funny." He walked back and forth in front of her, hands on hips. Brennan was fairly certain that he'd forgotten that he was completely naked. "I mean, why couldn't this have happened when we were in the _usual_ position? At least then my daughter wouldn't have seen my naked ass!"

That did it for Brennan. Whatever restraint she had was completely gone, and she began whooping in glee, tears streaming down her face. "Oh…oh….Booth, stop! I can't…I…can't take it anymore!" She rolled over to her stomach and began slapping the mattress, shoulders shaking in mirth.

Booth stalked into the bathroom, glaring at Brennan and muttering under his breath as he slammed the door.

"I hate you, Bones."


	38. And It Goes Like This

**_A/N: Big ass spoiler alert for the finale, The Secret in the Siege. You've been warned._**

**_For the record, up until the last 3 minutes of the episode, I loved the finale. It was fantastic. Seriously._**  
**_That being said…the last 3 minutes killed me. Killed. Me. And I am generally fairly pragmatic about angsty Bones story lines. But this one…I felt manipulated. It's going to take me some time to get over it. But that's okay, because we have fan fiction._**

**_However, those of you who know me know that I can't *completely* fix things. Pelant is still out there, y'all. Very bad not good things will continue to happen to our team. That's just the way it is._**

**_In the meantime, enjoy my effort to repair what happened on my TV at 8:57 PM tonight._**

* * *

And It Goes Like This

Booth rolled over and stared at the glowing numbers on the alarm clock on the night stand. Next to him, he heard Brennan sigh, her rigid back still facing him, as it had been since he'd sheepishly climbed into bed hours before.

He'd broken her and he knew it.

For the first two hours after they had moved into their bedroom, Booth been surreptitiously shifting anything that might send an electronic signal to other parts of the house. Brennan glanced at him from time to time, but was generally content to ignore him, her eyes still red-rimmed from her breakdown in the locked master bathroom. She had an errant thought to ask him what the hell he thought he was doing, but she was so hurt and angry and confused already that she wasn't interested in anything he had to say.

Finally satisfied with the now technology-free bedroom, Booth had slipped into bed, smart enough to know that trying to get a goodnight kiss might result in grave bodily harm to his person. Instead, he allowed her to turn away from him with a muttered "Good night" and settled in next to her to wait.

Two hours after they turned out the lights, Booth rolled towards his partner and began to whisper. "Bones?"

She didn't move.

"Bones?" He reached out, tentatively, and placed a hand on her bare shoulder. "Bones, please."

She shifted slightly. "I'm tired, Booth. We can talk in the morning."

"No, we can't. He'll hear us."

That got her attention, and she flipped over to face him so fast the bed bounced. "Who will hear us?"

He could see the doubt on her face, even in the inky darkness. "Pelant."

"What could be so important that you have to skulk around at 4:30 in the morning? You had the house swept, Booth. There's no surveillance inside of the house."

Booth shook his head, still whispering. "He told me himself, Bones. He has access to everything. And this…I can't risk it. We need to do this now."

Sighing, Brennan shook her head and moved closer to him. "Fine. Say what you have to say."

Booth took a deep breath and locked eyes with her, making sure that she saw the truth in them. "Pelant made me break our engagement."

As he explained himself, Brennan began to feel the crushing weight on her chest slowly release. Deep down, she knew something else was going on with Booth but she was too hurt to examine it too much. And to Booth's relief, the more he spoke, the closer she moved to him until they were almost nose to nose.

They were so focused on each other and Booth's confession, neither noticed the numbers on the alarm clock blink off and on several times, before finally remaining steadily lit once again.


	39. Everyone Gets What They Deserve

_**A/N: Just a little something to keep my fan fic muscles working. Never-ending thanks to Cindee and Tracy for the valuable input and read-through. **_

* * *

"_Our real problem, then, is not our strength today; it is rather the vital necessity of action today to ensure our strength tomorrow." ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower_

The One Where Everyone Gets What They Deserve

Brennan stood outside the abandoned building where the body of Christopher Pelant had been discovered hours earlier. Staring at the brick visage, automatically cataloging every broken window, every cracked door frame, the elation she'd expected to feel at this moment was strangely absent. Looking to her immediate left, the smile on Hodgins' face left no doubt as to how he was feeling and Brennan was deeply jealous. In fact, she was so distracted by her covetous thoughts she failed to notice that her boss had been addressing her for almost a full minute.

"Doctor Brennan?" Cam's brow furrowed with worry, unaccustomed to the far off, unfocused look in her friend's eyes. "Brennan?"

The sound of her name finally permeated her consciousness and Brennan shook her head to try and focus. "Yes, Doctor Saroyan? I apologize, I was…" Her gaze drifted to just behind Cam, where Booth stood conferring with the local PD and coroner.

Cam followed her gaze and sighed. "Its fine, Doctor Brennan. We're all a little…unnerved. I just wanted to let you know that the local PD has agreed to allow us to take the body back to the Jeffersonian. Luckily, none of them seem interested in making this into a jurisdictional pissing contest."

"Oh. Alright, then. I'll just accompany the remains back to the lab and start-"

"Nope." Cam stated, the word ending in a 'pop' to add to her point. "Booth wants you to stay here with him."

Her immediate instinct to rebel kicked in with a vengeance. "But why? There's nothing here I can help with and I'd like to get started on the examination as soon as possible."

With a shake of her head, Cam stepped closer to her colleague, wanting this information kept as close to the vest as possible. "You will not be examining the remains, Doctor Brennan." Cam's voice dropped low and almost menacing. "You like facts, right? You like rationality, correct? Well, rationally…Pelant framed you for murder. He threatened members of our team, he stole Hodgins' entire fortune, and he put us all at risk in one way or another. Out of everyone in the world, we have the most reason to want him dead. The FBI is absolutely solid on this point. Booth isn't even going to be investigating Pelant's death, they're giving the clean-up to Flynn." Cam made sure she had Brennan's attention before she continued. "Absolutely nothing but aboveboard on this one, Doctor Brennan. Nothing left to chance. The county coroner and the FBI forensic pathologist will be conducting the autopsy. The best they could do was agree to conduct the exam in our lab, and even that's pushing the edge of propriety."

Several excellent arguments zipped through Brennan's head as she stared down her boss, but none could find traction against Cam's explanation or the hidden reality of the situation, and there was really only one conclusion. She knew she had to let this one go.

"Fine." Brennan nodded in deference to Cam and glanced over at Booth, missing the mildly shocked look on the other woman's face. "I'll wait here for Booth." She turned to Hodgins. "Doctor Hodgins, would you still like a ride back to the lab with us? Apparently this is going to take longer than I anticipated."

Brennan missed the tiny head shake Cam gave the entomologist, but Hodgins didn't. "Uh…no thanks, Doctor B. I'll just ride back now, with Cam. I'd like to let Angie know, face-to-face, that the bastard is finally dead."

"That's fine." Brennan responded, now completely distracted by the fact that Booth was striding towards them. Cam noticed the agent's approach and prepared to vacate the area, pulling on the sleeve of Hodgins' sweatshirt.

"Seeley." Booth smiled tightly at her in response, and then glanced at Brennan quickly before looking away. Cam pretended not to see it as she continued. "We're leaving for the lab. Let me know if there's anything else we can do. We'll get together at the bar after this is wrapped up. I'm not normally one to rejoice in the death of another human being but in this case, I'll make an exception."

"Thanks, Camille."

"Thank you, Cam."

They spoke simultaneously, but even the departing FBI techs could see there was something off between the partners, who watched a bit too carefully as their team headed for Cam's car. In a matter of minutes, they were finally alone at the site and standing side by side, facing the building where their greatest nemesis had met his demise.

An occasional passing vehicle and the chirping of random birds permeated the early fall air as the partners contemplated the end of the almost two years of pain and terror that Christopher Pelant had rained upon them. Neither wanted to say it out loud, but both were still strangely unsettled despite the abject relief.

Brennan finally broke the silence. "Did you double check the area around the body?"

"I did. Quadruple checked."

"I was sure I had covered all of the evidence but even I am not infallible."

Booth smirked slightly. "You were perfect, Bones."

"Who did you convince to have the Jeffersonian removed from the case?"

"Hacker." Booth wanted to roll his eyes. "He was surprisingly open to suggestion. He still thinks it was his idea."

"That's good." Brennan sighed, still not looking at him. "Good."

A few more moments passed before Booth spoke, quietly but with surety. "We did the right thing, Bones."

"I know." Her quick agreement didn't surprise him.

"He never would have stopped, Bones."

"Of that, I am certain."

One large hand moved to entwine smaller, more slender fingers in its own. He tugged softly and she moved to lean against his side, their hands held between them.

"We probably saved a lot of lives."

"Yes." She glanced sideways at his profile, taking in his clenched jaw. "Are you going to be okay with this, Booth?"

His answer took longer than she was comfortable with, but of the two of them, Brennan knew her mate was going to be the one to struggle with their decision to hunt down, draw out and eliminate Pelant on their own. They had shared their plan with no one else, wanting to shield the rest of the team from prosecution in case something went wrong. And although the initial plan had been Booth's idea, it had fallen on Brennan to execute it, a fact which had left Booth terrified despite his faith in his partner's ability to take care of herself.

Booth finally turned to face her, taking both her hands in his. "It's not Pelant that's bothering me, Bones." He hesitated a moment. "I mean, it is…but not getting rid of him. I promise I'll sleep just fine tonight."

"Then what is it, Booth? What's going on?"

It took Brennan almost a full minute to realize that Booth had dropped one of her hands and was down on one knee in front of her, a small velvet box sitting in his large palm between them. When it finally hit her, she sucked in a sharp breath and held it as her stomach bottomed out and her mind whirled.

Booth took a deep breath and began to speak, buoyed by the fact that Brennan hadn't taken off on a dead run for the safety of a passing cab. "Bones…I know that I hurt you when I took back my acceptance of your proposal."

"Booth, we talked about this, I understand that Pelant forced-"

"Bones." He shook his head and smiled, reminded again how lucky he was to have this incredible woman in his life. "Just let me finish, okay?"

She demurred with a nod, and he continued. "Like I said, I know I hurt you. And that is always the last thing that I ever want to do. You deserve better. You deserve to be happy…and I want to be the one who does that for you for however long you let me."

"Booth…" Brennan's breath caught in her throat. "I-"

He swallowed thickly, fighting the lump that had suddenly appeared in his throat. "I once told you that I wanted thirty or forty or fifty years with you, but now I've realized that I was wrong."

"I love you, Bones." He shook his head, almost in disbelief at his own words. "I have never, ever felt this way about another woman. Another person. I mean, I love Parker and Christine…with all my heart. But you…you _are_ my heart. It begins and ends with you. And now I know that fifty years is never going to be enough. Will never be enough. You bring out the best in me, and I've never felt like more of a man than when you are beside me. I'm braver, more satisfied, stronger and more content. You just make me…more. And it would be my honor to be able to show the world that I was a good enough man to earn the right to say that I am your husband."

Finally, Booth stood and pulled a speechless Brennan close, laying their entwined hands over his own heart. "Bones, I should have done this a very long time ago, but the fact that it took so much time and so many obstacles to reach this point makes it even sweeter to me." He released her hand, leaving it resting on his chest as he swiped at a tear tracking down her cheek. "So, Bones…" He flipped the lid on the box and held it out for her to see. "Will you marry me?"

Brennan released a breath and held both her hands against her face, staring at the ring and nodding to herself as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing in front of her, and then she was in his arms, kissing him as if her life depended on it.

When their lips parted, Booth pulled the ring from the box and moved to place it on her finger. For a terrifying second, Booth was afraid she was going to reject him as Brennan pulled her hand back, but she eased that fear by taking his face in her cool palms, looking up at him with more love than he could ever remember seeing in her eyes. "Bones?"

"Booth…I am the fortunate one. And more than anything, I want to give you everything in this world that you want and deserve. And what you deserve is to hear the words. So…" Brennan held her left hand out again and bit back a tiny, uncharacteristically girlish squeal as Booth slipped the beautiful ring on her trembling phalange. She moved into his arms and held his lapels tightly as she looked into his smiling face, both feeling all the tension and fear and unhappiness of the last two years slipping away with an ease that was almost blissful.

"Yes. Yes, Booth…I will marry you."


End file.
